Gouri-Ganesha Festivities

     August is the month of festivities. After Sri Krishna janmashtami, we have the Gouri-Ganesh festvals when we invoke the Divine Mother and the Lord of the Elements to protect us. Gouri is the Shakti of Shiva. The Shiva Purana gives more details. It is very important to keep in mind the three different levels of understanding the writings available to us, such as, the ancient Indian history, mythology and the symbolism or the spiritual aspects involved in all these names. forms and functions. the absolute becomes concrete, the formless assumes form and inert becomes moving and sound comes out of silence. This is how the un-manifest becomes the manifest and the One absolute becomes many varied and diversified!

  Who is Shiva? As the scriptures reveal, Shiva is known as Shamkara, Sham Bho, Shivashankara, Mahadeva, Ishvara, Maheshvara and, each name has something more than what just it normally indicates. So also, Gouri; Gouri is Shive, Maheshvari, Ishvari, Devi Parvati, Parameshvari. This is the same as regards Ganesha, who has a hundred different names! Gajanana, Gana-adhipati, Ganapati, Vinayaka, etc.

   The ancient history of India dates back to One million years when the Himalayas had not appeared, as it appears now! Some geological evidence show that the Himalaya Mtn. has risen from the floor of the Sea of Tethys, the remnant of which is the Mediterranean Sea. This Sea separated the southern Landmass of Gondavana and the Northern Landmass called Pangaea. The erosional remnnants such as sand, silt and loams deposited in the Sea layer by layer developed and pushed up in layers of stratified rocks constitute the long stretch of Himalayas from Hindukush to Arunachal. It is said Shiva and Parvati  ruled the Kailas Mountain area 500 000 years ago! People called King as God and the tradition is still there.

   Gouri we worship today is the Devi who is eulogized in the Veda as the supreme Creatrix. (see Devi Sukta). The trinity- Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshvara are the trio who are entrusted with the task of creation, sustenance, and dissolution, respectively by the supreme Lord Sri Hari Narayana! Hence there should be no doubt as to whom we are worshiping today. It seems Brahma is not worshiped by all and the Brahma temples are rare! Pushkar, Rajasthan, is the one famous Brahma shrine. On the other hand, Vishnu and Shiva temples are found all over India. Starting from Badrinath and Kedarnath in the North, to Rameshvaram and Tiruvanantapuram in the South, Shiva and Vishnu Temples are everywhere. The Shaivaites worship Shiva in the form of Lingam, symbolic presentation of Energy! Lingaraj Temple at Bhabaneshwar is the famous shrine in Orissa and Somanatha Temple in the West are famous shrines.

  Let's not dwell into the stories associated with these Vedic deities and mix it up with the folklors, and puranic stories. Devotion (Shruddha-Bhakti) is important in the worship.  

    As to Ganesha, Isha, the Lord of Ganas, group of elements (pancha mahabhuta) is sthe Vedic Deity, Ganapati is eulogized in the Veda. The Ganapati is the Lord of all that is power, 'Knowledge'. We worship the Lord Ganapati today as the Vighneshvara, the Deity who wards off all obstacles that may come in our way in our effort to fulfill, achieve our desires.