WATCH: Ganesha Chathruthi 2022 – Here’s what you should know

Hindus around the globe are preparing to celebrate the birth of Lord Ganesha on Thursday.

Ganesha, who takes the form of a human with an elephant head, is arguably one of the most well known deities in Hindu culture.

According to Hindu Mythology, he is the child of Lord Shiva and his wife, Parvathi.

Parvathi had modelled Ganesha out of sandalwood paste that she used to bathe herself.

She gave the model life and considered him to be her child. Parvathi had asked the child to guard the door while bathing.

When Lord Shiva came to call on his wife, he was denied access by Parvathi’s creation.

It is said that Shiva, creator and destroyer of worlds, according to Hindu mythology, killed Parvathi’s creation in that confrontation by severing his human head.

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Parvathi’s anguish over the loss of her child began to bring destruction to the world in the form of natural disasters.

Lord Shiva knew Parvathi’s grief would destroy the world and set about to bring her child back to life.

He came across a baby elephant, and while its mother was not looking, Shiva cut off the calf’s head, and fashioned it onto Ganesha, bringing the child back to life.

‘Remover of obstacles

Lord Ganesha is revered by Hindus as a ‘remover of obstacles’. Every prayer, regardless of which deity it is meant for, begins by paying homage to Ganesha so that the spiritual seeker’s path may be cleared of obstacles.

You will find Ganesha statues, pictures and symbols adorning the entrances to Hindu homes and inside cars, to ward off potential negative energies and events that may bring distress.

Interesting facts about Ganesha

Ganesha has a sweet tooth. His favourite snack is known as ‘Modaks’ or ‘Modhapriya’ which are sweet dumplings made with rice flour, coconut and jaggery (an unrefined sugar product made in Asia and Africa).

They are either steamed or fried and form part of prayer offerings by devotees.

His second favourite is are saffron-infused laddoos. In fact, almost all depictions of Ganesha show him with a laddoo in hand.

While Ganesha favours sweeter fruits such as mangos and grapes, bananas are his firm favourite.

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