Ganesha Chaturthi is celebrated on the day on which Lord Ganesha is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees. Though it is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Ganesha, the symbolism behind the festival is much deeper. Though Ganesha is worshipped as the elephant-headed God, the swaroop (form) is just to bring out its parabrahma roopa (eternal divine formlessness).
Ganesh Chaturthi marks a unique art of reaching the formless paramatma called Lord Ganesh by the repeated worship of his manifest form. Even the Ganesh Stotram, the prayers recited in the praise of Ganeshji, conveys the same. We pray to Ganesha in our consciousness to come out and sit in the idol for us for a while so that we can play with Him.
After the puja, we again pray, asking Him to go back to where He came from – our consciousness. While He is in the idol, we offer back whatever God has given us through the puja of the idol.
Ganesha is the lord of all the good qualities in us. So when we worship Him, all the good qualities blossom in us. He is also the Lord of knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge dawns only when we become aware of the Self. When there is inertia, there is no knowledge, no wisdom, nor is there any chaitanya (liveliness) or progress in life. So, the consciousness has to be awakened, and the presiding deity of consciousness is Ganesha. That’s why before every puja, the Lord Ganesha is worshipped to awaken the consciousness.
Therefore, install the idol, worship it with infinite love, meditate and experience Lord Ganesha from within. This is the symbolic essence of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, to awaken the Ganesh tattva, which is masked inside us.
And in the end, say, ‘You have come from my heart, and you will get back into my heart.’ Like that, saying that, Ganapati, the idol, you leave it in the ocean or in the water, from where you took it. The Visarjan is for you to understand that Ganapati is not just in the idol. He has come from your heart into the idol. The prana has come there, and then the prana gets back into you after fulfilling your desires.
Putting forth your desires in front of Ganapati, you then say, ‘Ganapati, you are back in my heart.’ Then you leave that idol in the water.
The ritual of immersing (visarjan) the idols after a few days of worship reinforces the understanding that God is not in the idol; He is inside us. So, experiencing the Omnipresent in the form and deriving joy out of the form is the essence of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. In this way, such organised festivity and worship leads to an upsurge in enthusiasm and devotion.
Embrace the symbolism of Lord Ganesha and let wisdom guide your path as you navigate the journey of life with awareness and grace.
