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The Story of Ganesha and His Favorite Laddu

Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu god, is a very popular deity. He is the god of new beginnings and the remover of obstacles. The word 'Gana' in Ganesha means ‘mass of people’, and 'Esha' means ‘Lord of the people’.

 Ganesha is the son of Shiva and Parvati. Another name for him is Siddhi Vinayak. His mount is a rat, and he is worshipped by writers, bankers, and scribes. His favorite foods are Modak and Laddu.

 His birthday is celebrated as Vinayaka Chaturthi or Ganesh Chaturthi. This falls in Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi.

 People worship Ganesha for blessings like knowledge, education, wealth, and wisdom.

 The Birth of Ganesha

 There are many legends about Ganesha’s birth. The most popular one is that of Goddess Parvati, creating him using turmeric. The Brahma Vaivarta Purana tells a different version. On Shiva’s suggestion, Parvati fasted for many years (punyaka vrata) to please Vishnu so that she would have a son. Vishnu told her that he would be born as her son in every kalpa (eon). Thus, Ganesha was born and the event was celebrated with great joy. All the gods came to see the baby. But Shani (Saturn), Suryadev’s son, did not look at the baby directly as his gaze had great destructive power. But he looked at the baby from the corner of his left eye.

 But Parvati told him to look at the baby properly. When he did so, the child’s head fell off. Shiva and Parvati were grief-stricken. Vishnu then climbed on Garuda, his mount, and flew to the banks of the Pushpa-Bhadra river. He found the head of a young elephant and brought it back to Kailas. The elephant’s head was then joined to the torso of Parvati's son, and the baby revived. The child was named Ganesha. All the Gods present blessed him and left.

 Another story says that Shiva unknowingly killed Aditya (Surya). Though he revived the dead boy, the latter’s father, Sage Kashyapa, was still angry. As he was one of the Saptarishis (seven great sages), he cursed Shiva, saying that Shiva's son would lose his head. When this occurred, Indra’s elephant’s head was used to replace it.

 There is also another story. Once, the bath water used by Parvati was thrown into the Ganges. The elephant-headed Goddess, Malini, drank the water and delivered a baby with 4 arms and 5 elephant heads. Ganga, the river goddess, claimed him as her son, but Shiva insisted that he was Parvati's son, and reduced his 5 heads to one. Then he enthroned him as Vignesha, the controller of obstacles.

 Ganesha’s Sweet Tooth

 Ganesha is said to be very fond of sweets. Modak, a dumpling made of rice flour and jaggery, is his favorite sweet. For this reason, he is called Modakpriya, meaning ‘the one who loves modak’. The laddu is another favorite of Ganesha.

 Mythology says that Ganesha’s grandmother, Menavati (Parvati’s mother), would pamper him by making laddus for him. But when he grew older, his appetite for laddus increased. Parvati thought that preparing a lot of laddus in a short span of time was not easy and so she made another dish that he would like equally. This was the modak, made of rice flour, coconut, jaggery, and ghee. Soon, the modak supplanted the laddu as his favorite sweet.

 Ganesha and Kubera

 The tale of Ganesha and his favorite laddu began when he met Kubera, the god of wealth and the treasurer of all deities. Laddu is often offered as prasad to Ganesha. Behind this lies an interesting story.

 Once, Kubera invited Shiva to his palace. The idea behind it was to flaunt his palace, which was made of gold and all his wealth. But Shiva realized what Kubera’s intentions were and sent his son, Ganesha, to Kubera’s palace. When Ganesha reached Kubera’s palace, Kubera began to show off his wealth and expensive possessions. Ganesha was not interested in all this. All he wanted was food, but Kubera continued to boast about his wealth. He said that he had prepared enough food to serve at least a 1000 guests.

 After a while, Kubera remembered his duties as a host and served all manner of delicacies to his guest, Ganesha. Ganesha began to eat and went on eating until all the dishes got over. However, Ganesha’s hunger had not abated. He looked around for more things to eat. Then, he began to eat the uncooked vegetables and raw food in the palace kitchen. Even then, he still felt hungry. Then, he began to eat all the gold utensils in the kitchen. On seeing this, Kubera became upset. He didn’t know what to do or how to deal with the unquenched hunger of Ganesha.

 Finally, he went to Shiva and complained that Ganesha was gobbling up all his wealth. Shiva merely smiled and gave him a laddu that Parvati made. Then he told Kubera to give the laddu to Ganesha and assured him that the laddu would satisfy his ravenous hunger. So, Kubera rushed to the palace and gave Ganesha the laddu made by Parvati.

 Since then, it has become the practice to offer laddus to Ganesha. It is believed to be an auspicious ritual that can attract the blessings of Ganesha.