" The Religious Calendar "

The period of fifteen days when the Moon is in the ascendancy is known as 'SUKLA Paksha' or the 'Full moon' period. The following fifteen days when the Moon is in the descendant is known as ' KRISHNA PAKSHA ' or 'No Moon ' period.

The days are called as ' TITHI's in Sanskrit. eg. Prathama, Dweetheeya, Thritheeya, Chaturthi, Panchami, Sashti, Saptami, Ashtami, Navami,Dasami, Ekadasi, Dwadasi, Triodasi, Chaturdasi followed by Pournami in the Full Moon Days or Amavasya in the no moon day period.



Certain Ceremonies or 'Vrathas' have connotations with the 'Tithis. Some have relevance to the 'Stars' or 'Nakshatras'. Thus the Religious Calendar follows as mentioned below:-
1) Yama Dwitheeya
2) Akshaya Tritheeya
3) Vinayaka Chaturthi




4) Rishi Panchami
6) Skanda Shashti
7) Ratha Saptami
8) Janmashtami



9) SriRama Navami, Maha Navami



10)Vijaya Dasami
11)Vaikunta Ekadasi
12)Sravana Dwadasi
13)Krishnankura Trayodasi



14)Naraka Chaturdasi



15)Chitra Pournami

The above ones are based on the 'tithis'.

II. In every Tamil Month on Purnami days, the 'Star or Nakshatra' prevailing on that day gets added as a tag to mark the importance of the day. The list follows:-

1) Chitra Purnima ( Chitrai denotes the month as well as the Star) - Chitra Gupta Puja is observed.
2) Vaikasi Visakam (Kanchi Guru Jayanthi, Buddha Purnima)
3) Aadi Pooram , Aadi 18 when Water is released for irrigation from Cauveri, Aadi Amavasai
4) Avani Avittam - Upakarmas ' Tiruvonam-Onam Festival



5) Karthigai Deepam
6) Dhanur Masya - Thiruvadirai -Arudhra Darsanam
7 Thai Pusam (Mayilai Theppam for Murugan)
8) Masi Makam (Mahamakam @ Kumbakonam once in 12 years)






9) Panguni Uthiram

III The day or ' Vaara' based:-


1) Soma Vaara - for Parameswara, Moon
2) Mangala Vaara - for Subrahmanya & Ganesha 'Angarakan
3) Budha vaara- Budha
4) Guru vaara- for Maha Vishnu
5) Sukra Vaara - for Goddesses Durga,Lakshmi, Saraswati




6) Sani Vaara - for Saniswara, Balaji



7) Bhanu Vaara -for Surya , Maariyamman




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' Why ' modakas' and why first puja to Lord Ganesha '

Wednesday, September 24, 2008
' Why ' modakas' and why first puja to Lord Ganesha '
Worship stands on a strong ground based on rituals. The rituals, their significance, cause for enacting them -all have references from Puranas or Mythology. With this introduction, let us look into some of the rituals which are prevalent and connected with ' Ganesha Puja ' :-

Eka Dhantham Surpakarnam Gajavakthram Chathurbhujam ,
Pasankusadharam Devam Dyayeth Siddhivinayakam.

Ganesha is addressed as " Jyeshta Rajan" and " Brahmanaspathi " in the Vedas. Jyeshta Rajan means 'First Born' and Brahmanaspathi means ' presiding over all Vedas'. As Thiruvalluvar says in the very first 'Kural', " Adhibhagavan" , Ganesha is like 'a' the first letter in the alphabet. The new borns utter first, the word starting in ' akaras ' -. 'Amma' gets the pride of place in this exercise. Appa, Akka, etc., follow suit. The calf calls ' Amme.." first. The sound of the elephant is like"Omkara". Ganesha has the elephant face . Yoga Sastras address Ganesha as "Pranavaswaroopi'.

Sumuka, Ekadhantha, Kapila, Gajakarna, Lambodhara, Vikata, Vignaraja, Vinayaka, Dhoomakethu, Ganadhyaksha,Balachandra, Gajanana, Soorpakarna, Vakrathunda, Heramba, Skanthapoorvaja are the 16 names of Ganesha first invoked with a prayer that the task which is being taken up will end well.
1) Why ' modakas' and why first puja ?
Once Devas approached Lord Siva when Parvathy, Ganesha, Subhramanya were all present. They brought 'modakam' containing 'Amritham' (nector) as 'poornam' filled inside.
Siva declared that the modakam will be earned by the one who emerges first after getting rid of all sins. He also will get the first place in worship. Subhramanya climbed on his peacock vehicle to go round the worlds to have a dip in the holy waters around to get rid of the sins. Ganesha believed that by performing 'pradhikshana namaskarams' of his parents, he can get rid of all sins. So doing , he not only earned the prestigious 'modakam' but also got the merit to occupy the place as a deity in receiving the puja first.



Performing 'pradhakshanam' is equivalent to writing the word or aksharam 'OHM' by the body. Further Ganesha is in the form of 'OHMkara' as described above. Thus 'modakam' also gets its importance as ' nivedyam' to Lord Ganesha.

There is another version which says that Arundhathi realised that the 'poornam' inside the modakam represents 'nectar' and the white outer thin cover of modakam made of rice flour represents the world. She gave the modakam to Vasishta Maharishi and asked him to offer the same to Ganesha. The Lord was pleased with the thought of Arunthathi about "Ganeshaism" and granted 'jeevan-mukthi' to Vasishta and Arundhathi.
Adi Sankara brought this philosophy in his creation ' Ganesha Pancharathnam' - starting ' mudhakarata modhakam sadha vimukthi sadhakam' .which means the modhakam in the abhaya hastha of Ganesha is something like a jewel for getting emancipation (Vimukthi).

2) Why 'hitting the forehead with both the fists?'



Ravana obtained a 'Sivalinga' from Lord Siva as a reward for his severe penance. He was to install it in Sri Lanka, so that no one can vanquish him in a war. The Devas became afraid and prayed to Ganesha to stop Ravana from installing the Sivalinga. Ganesha in the guise of a 'brahmachari' appeared before Ravana. Ravana wanted to perform 'sandhya vandana'.. He could neither keep the Sivalinga' on the ground , nor carry it with him. He was helpless and requested the bramhachari Ganesha to hold the Sivalinga for a short while. Ganesha agreed but on condition that if Ravana were to delay in coming back even after the three calls from him, the Sivalinga would be kept down by Ganesha. Ravana consented to this Ganesha but could not return to the spot due to the spell of Ganesha's power. The Sivalinga was kept down by Ganesha and Ravana could not remove or take it from the ground.

He got angry and hit the bramhachari on his head three times in a fist like action. Ganesha appeared before Ravana in his real form. Realising the mistake Ravana bowed his head down and hit his forehead with the both the hands in a fist like action.

This practice exists today also since then when we recite 'Suklam Bharatharum Vishnum Sasivarnam Chathurbhujam..."

3) Why 'topikarnam'?



Gajamukasura was a demon causing disturbances to the sages in doing penance. Lord Ganesha fought with him and brought the demon to his knees. Gajamukasura prayed to the Lord that he would serve Ganesha as his vehicle in the form of a bandicoot. Ganesha was pleased with his prayer and blessed him with a boon. Gajamukasura narrated that when he was ruling his kingdom, he used to pay obeisance to Devas by performing 'topikarnam', by holding the tip of both the ears with his thumb and fore finger of his hands in a scissor like fashion and repeat the action of squatting and standing. Gajamukasuran wished that henceforth devotees of Ganesha do 'topikarnam' before the Lord. Ganesha granted this boon and this practice exists since then.

"Topikarnam' means "Thwabhyam Karna" in Sanskrit " - I listen to your Command ,Oh Lord Ganesha'



Scholars explain that by hitting the forehead in a fist like action as well as by performing ' topikarnam', we are activating the nervous system and the action stimulates flow of fresh blood to the brain. By submitting ourselves while performing these acts, we forget ourselves, forget our ego and the situation leads to peace of mind.

4)Why " Pillaiyar Suzhi " before we start writing anything?
Lord Ganesha is called as 'Ekadhantar'- has one tusk.. The story behind this is that Ganesha removed one of his tusks to kill a demon who had earlier obtained a boon that he could not be killed by any weapon like sword, bow and arrow etc. There is another story which says that Ganesha removed one of his tusks and gave it to Vyasa Maharishi for using it as a pen in response to his prayer to help him to write Mahabharath. Ganesha came to be known as 'Ekadhantha' after this episode.



Lord Ganesha is the first person to invent the letters and start writing. Until then, the transactions were only in the form of sound. He translated the sound form into a written script by showing his tusk in a bent U shape manner (Pilliyarsuzhi). Henceforth before starting to write, people pray to Ganesha to show their gratitude for giving life to the sound form by translating it to a script form.

5) Why 'Doorva' and not Tulsi for Ganesha?
'Doorva' refers to the long tender grass which is considered as superior in Ganesh-Aradhana. Once Ganesha destroyed a demon called 'Analan', by swallowing him. The demon went inside and burnt the 14 worlds situated inside Ganesha, thus causing enormous heat. Ganesha searched for Doorva Grass and wore it as a garland to nullify the heat inside. Doorva is a substance known to create heat and by the principles of two negatives make things positive, the heat was quenched. Doorva Grass is therefore used as a supreme offering in Ganesha Puja.

Why not Tulsi? Tulsi did penance for long years with a goal to marry Ganesha. But the Lord did not like it and advised Tulsi to marry Lord Vishnu. Tulsi was in no mood and compelled Ganesha. Lord Ganesha became angry and cursed Tulsi to become a plant from Ganesha also made it clear that Tulsi is not suitable for worshipping him on the daily basis except on the Vinayaka Chathurthi Day.

Likewise, Moon is not to be seen on Sukla Chathuthi days and also on Vinayaka Chathurthi Day and it is believed that those who see the Moon on these days would earn some bad name.

6)" Vignesa " removes all hurdles ( Vigna ) to his devotees for doing good, at the same time he gives Vigna and thus prevents the wicked from proceeding with their bad actions.

Vakrathunda Mahakaya Kotisurya Samaprabha !
Nirvignam Kuru Me Deva Sarvakaryeshu sarvadha !!

Ganesha Charanam Charanam Ganesha. !!

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Amazing is the ' Absolute Faith ' of Child Prahalad !

What gives a special place to 'Narasimha Avatar' is its striking form. Child Prahalad is the architect for Narasimha Avatar to happen. Prahalad is faith personified which words can not describe to the fullest.

Total surrender to HIM will have efficacy only when a person develops total faith which task is not easy. There is a story which depicts what in its essence total fath is :.....

There lived an oil merchant long long ago, who did all jobs from 'a to z' in producing the til oil with the help of a hand set made of wood. The wood set once broke into two and he went in search of a sound tree for making a new wooden machinery for producing the oil. He selected the tree and brought four men to cut it. When he was about to do it, something fell and enveloped his feet and prayed " Oh Merchant , have mercy on me. I am a ghost who live in the tree for a long time and I don't have any other place to go". The ghost also prayed to him that it would take the responsibility to bring to his door the required quantum of Til plant with which he can produce the til oil every day. The merchant expressed his doubt by saying 'what if not'? The ghost reacted immediately that it was not a man and therefore it won't cheat like a man. The merchant believed the ghost's emphatic utterances and dropped the idea of cutting the tree.

The ghost kept up its promise and started bringing the til plant matching in quantity to that of the merchant's requirements. But it proved to be not an easy job. The ghost had to go 'helter-skelter' to search the til plant and it took almost whole day for it to do so. As a matter of fact, the ghost could never return to the old tree where it originally lived. The ghost blamed itself for the torture it was undergoing. It thought that for the sake of the tree or to save the tree from being cut, it offered the merchant to bring the til plant to his door. It appeared to the ghost that the purpose was not served once it could not get back to the tree.

The ghost decided to rest in the tree for sometime that day and was shocked to find another ghost to have taken his place in the tree. The new ghost made fun of the old by saying that it was man who usually came under the spell of a ghost but where as it was the old ghost who had come under the spell of the oil merchant. The two ghosts exchanged its plans on the pressing matter and the new ghost came forward to help the other one and said " I would kill the oil merchant, which would put an end to the whole episode ".

As the dialogue was going on between the ghosts, the oil merchant was busy in the cow-shed. He saw all the cows were brought out from the shed for giving a wash but the merchant noticed one cow which had been bought newly was left out. He shouted at the servants:- "Bring that new Ghost (he meant the new cow) also". The merchant's shout was heard by the new ghost now occupying the tree. it got terrified and came running to the oil merchant. It surrendered to the merchant saying that it would bring double the quantity of til plant what the old ghost used to fetch and prayed for its life.

The new ghost then went to the tree where the old ghost was also standing. The latter laughed at the new ghost and remarked " Where would you get time to return to the tree, as you had compromised to fetch double the quantum of til plant ".

Developing the total faith is as difficult as to fetch such an enormous quantum of til plant as promised by the new ghost.

Karma Yoga or Gnyana Yoga are difficult to practice. It does not mean that ' total surrender to God'- 'the doctrine of saranagathi'- become easy. What interferes between total surrender and man is lack of faith. It is as difficult as to fetch the til plant matching the merchant's enormous requirements.

We pray to HIM, garland the portraits of the Gods with variety of colorful flowers in the puja, offer him " Bhaksya Visesham " ( Nivedanam) and do ' Mangala Harthi '. Are we not supposed to be firm in our mind in the thought that the Lord is sitting in front and looking at the puja being performed and that HE knew what to Give. Yes that is called Faith or vehemently it could be referred as " Total Faith ".



Child Prahalad had such an admiring faith in Lord Narayana and Prahalad's faith is amazing when he, with the uttermost confidence, proclaimed to his father Hiranyakasipu " Sthambena Dhrusyathe "! (HE is seen in the Pillar ) where as Hiranyakasipu uttered to the child " Sthambe NA Dhrisyathe ". ( HE is not seen in the Pillar ) .

Child Prahalad's total faith is not only amazing but also stands as personification of what faith could be and could do in return !.


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" Ganesh Chathurthy Greetings " !

Lord Ganesa People Pray First
Vigneswara Blesses to Overcome Hurdles
His 'Modhaka-Hastha' Protects As 'Abhaya-Hastha'
Ganapathy Stands for 'OHM' kara
Bala Ganapathy Benevolent to Bhakthas
Has big ears, short in stature, powerful in deed
Oh, Son of Maheswara and Uma's Balaka
Vathapi Ganapathiye, Sincere Prayers to You
On the Auspicious Occasion of 'Vinayaka Chathurthi'

Greeetings to All of You !!