विनायकचतुर्थी

{ vināyakacaturthī }

Puranic Encyclopaedia

VINĀYAKACATURTHĪ   One of the important festivals of the Hindus. This is called the day of worship of Gaṇeśa. The Caturthī (4th day) of the bright lunar fortnight in the month of Siṁha is the birth day of Gaṇapati. It is a famous festival in North India. They make the images of Gaṇapati, every year, and make offerings to them on this particular day. It is believed, that he who sees the moon on Vināyaka Caturthī, will be subjected to dishonour and derision. This belief is based on the following story. Gaṇapati is very fond of sweetmeat especially Kozhukkaṭṭa (globular solid sweetmeat, called Modaka). It is the custom in North India to worship Gaṇapati by offering these sweetmeats, even today, with all kinds of festivities. On one birthday Gaṇapati went from house to house and ate belly-ful of modakas and returned home on his conveyance, the rat. On the way the rat saw a snake and began to tremble with fear. Due to the shivering of its legs Gaṇapati fell down. The belly of Gaṇapati was broken due to the fall and a large quantity of modakas came out. Gaṇapati gathered everything that fell out of his belly and stuffed them again in the stomach and joining the cut edges entwined the snake tightly round the stomach. Candra who was standing in the sky seeing all these things laughed with contempt. At this, Gaṇapati got wild and plucked his tusk and throwing it at the moon cursed him. “Let nobody look at you on the Gaṇapati-festival day.” [Brahmavaivarta Purāṇa] . This story is slightly different according to Gaṇeśa Purāṇa. That story is, that Śrī Parameśvara gave a plum to his elder son Subrahmaṇya without the knowledge of his younger son Gaṇapati, on the 4th day of a bright lunar fortnight and the moon who smiled at it, was cursed.

A Sanskrit English Dictionary

वि-नायक—चतुर्थी  f.  f. the fourth day of the festival in honour of गणेश, [Cat.]

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वि नायक चतुर्थी