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The History of Ganesh Chaturthi

Ganesha Chaturthi or Ganesha Festival is a day on which Lord Ganesha, the son of Shiva and Parvati, is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees. It is also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi or Vinayaka Chavithi in Sanskrit, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu, Chavath in Konkani and as Chathaa in Nepal Bhasa. It is celebrated as it is the birthday of Lord Ganesha. The festival is observed in the Hindu calendar month of Bhaadrapada, starting on the shukla chaturthi (fourth day of the waxing moon period). Typically, the day falls sometime between August 20 and September 15. The festival lasts for 10 days, ending on Ananta Chaturdashi. This festival is observed in the lunar month of bhadrapada shukla paksha chathurthi madhyahana vyapini purvaviddha. if chaturthi prevails on both days, the first day should be taken. Even if chaturthi prevails for complete duration of madhyahana on the second day, but if it prevails on previous day's madhyahana period even for one ghatika (24 minutes) the previous day should be taken. (Ref. Dharmasindhu and Indian Calendric System, by Commodore S.K. Chatterjee (Retd). Madhyahana is the 3rd / 5th part of the day (Sunrise-sunset).
Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati, is widely worshipped as the supreme god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune.
While celebrated all over India, it is most elaborate in Maharashtra,Goa ( Biggest festival for Konkani people all over the world ) Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, and other areas which were former states of the Maratha Empire. Outside India, it is celebrated by Newars in Nepal.

Original Festival

The Origin of the festival lies in the Holy Hindu scriptures which tell the story of Lord Ganesha. Lord Ganesha (or Ganapati) (the names mean "Lord [isha] or [pati] of Shiva's hosts [gana]") was created by goddess Parvati, consort of Lord Shiva.
According to the legend, Lord Shiva, the Hindu God of resolution, was away at a war. His wife Pavarti, wanted to bathe and having no-one to guard the door to her house, conceived of the idea of creating a son who could guard her. Parvati created Ganesha out of the sandalwood paste that she used for her bath and breathed life into the figure. She then set him to stand guard at her door and instructed him not to let anyone enter.
In the meantime, Lord Shiva returned from the battle but as Ganesha did not know him, stopped Shiva from entering Parvati's chamber. Shiva, enraged by Ganesh’s impudence, drew his sword and cut off Ganesha's head. Pavarti emerged to find Ganesha decapitated and flew into a rage. She took on the form of the Goddess Kali and threatened destruction to the three worlds of Heaven, Earth and the subterranean earth.
Seeing her in this mood, the other Gods were afraid and Shiva, in an attempt to pacify Parvati, sent out his ganas, or hordes, to bring the head of the first living being with his head towards the north (the auspicious direction associated with wisdom). The first living thing they came across was an elephant. So they brought the head of this elephnat and Shiva placed it on the trunk of Parvati's son and breathed life into him. Parvati was overjoyed and embraced her son, the elephant-headed boy whom Shiva named Ganesha, the lord of his ganas.

Ganesh Chaturthi History

In 1893, Lokmanya Tilak, an Indian nationalist, social reformer and freedom fighter reshaped the annual Ganesh festival from private family celebrations into a grand public event. It is interesting to note that the festival was not celebrated in a public manner until this time but was a family affair among Hindus, who used to celebrate it in a traditional manner.
Lokamanya Tilak visualized the cultural importance of this deity and popularised Ganesha Chaturthi as a National Festival "to bridge the gap between the Brahmins and the non-Brahmins and find an appropriate context in which to build a new grassroots unity between them" in his nationalistic strivings against the British in Maharashtra.
Tilak chose Ganesha as a rallying point for Indian protest against British rule because of his wide appeal as "the god for Everyman". It was an important festival during the Peshwa rule in Maharashtra, but acquired a more organized form all over India during the Swaraj movement (Freedom struggle).
Tilak was the first to install large public images of Ganesha in pavilions, and he established the practice of submerging all the public images on the tenth day. The festival facilitated community participation & involvement in the form of learned discourses, dance dramas, poetry recital, musical concerts, debates, etc. It served as a meeting ground for common people of all castes and communities, in a time when social & political gatherings were forbidden by the British Rule to exercise control over the population.

Hollywood Box Office for the week of August 23-29, 2008

The summer movie season winds down this Labor Day weekend with five new nationwide releases. Sci-fi action picture 'Babylon A.D.' has the largest launch with approximately 3,600 screens at 3,390 theaters, followed by spoof 'Disaster Movie' with around 2,750 screens at 2,642 theaters. Comedy 'College' hits 2,123 theaters, and thriller 'Traitor,' which opened modestly on Wednesday, strikes 2,054. Comedy 'Hamlet 2' expanded nationwide on Wednesday to weak results and plays 1,597 venues this weekend. 'Tropic Thunder' remains the biggest release with over 3,800 screens at 3,473 theaters.
Average 4-day weekend predictions of 510 players:
1. 'Babylon A.D.' - $18.1 million 2. 'Disaster Movie' - $13.6 million
3. 'Tropic Thunder' - $12.6 million

4. 'The Dark Knight' - $10.1 million

5. 'The House Bunny' - $9.4 million

6. 'Death Race' - $7.8 million

7. 'College' - $7.2 million

8. 'Traitor' - $6.9 million

9. 'Hamlet 2' - $4.7 million

10. 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' - $3.6 million

Pyramid Saimira presents the third story of ‘Simran Marupurani Kathalu’- “Navashakthi”

‘Simran Marupurani Kathalu’ enters its third story in the month of August with a spiritualistic storyline. This mini-mega is telecast on Maa TV from Monday to Thursday during the 3.00P.M slot. Fittingly titled “Navashakthi” this is a story that revolves around the extraordinary powers of the Almighty.

It is written in scriptures that the whole universe is conjoined by the forces an unsurpassable energy in the form of Shakthi. The mother of all humanity, Annai Adhiparasahkthi, unites the good and evil deeds of this world safeguarding the interests of human beings. As she fights for justice she instills spiritual faith in them, this would be the underlying tone of “Navashakthi”.


In “Navashakthi” a mortal man aspires to procure the energies of Shakthi by unleashing heavenly secrets. Realizing the effects it would create on earth, Annai induces her devotees Uma Maheshwari and Gayathri Devi to fight the negative and egoistic mortal man whose desire to control the world reaches a zenith point. Amman shows her prowess at every juncture by adorning new avatars, to teach the mortal a good lesson.

This is a story that comes to enlighten and instill the power of spiritual forces in this corrupt world of “Kaliyug”. “Navashakthi” is packed with mystery, mythology and divinity.

Simran as usual gives a splendid performance, essaying more than 14 characters, that would definitely ear mark her as the one and only all-rounder in the Television Industry.

Along with Simran this mini-mega has Poovilangu Mohan, O.A.K. Sundar, Anuradha Krishnamoorthy and Subbulaxmi.

Story, Screenplay : Selva Paandi
Dialogue : Vennilakanti
Cinematography : Azaad
Direction : Aravindhraj
Creative Head : Subhaa Venkat

Chiru launches his party office at midnight

Megastar Chiranjeevi added to the intrigue surrounding his political entry by inaugurating the headquarters of his proposed party in relative secrecy in the dead of the night. The actor’s penchant for building up suspense about his plans and his secretive ways are getting on the nerves of senior leaders who quit other parties to follow him.

Keeping the script under wraps may be good in tinsel town, but does not really impress those in the political arena, where going public is the name of the game. Chiranjeevi inaugurated his party office on Road No. 46 of Jubilee Hills here in a discreet manner at 00.55 am on Monday.

It was a totally family affair. Even his fans were not aware of the programme until it commenced and was telecast live on TV. Pujas were performed in the presence of Chiranjeevi’s mother, wife Surekha, brothers and film actors Nagendra Babu, Pawan Kalyan, and son Ravi Charan Teja.

Brother-in-law Allu Arvind and close aides Dr Mitra and K.S.R. Murthy were also present at the ceremony. The Congress MP, Mr Ch. Harirama Jogaiah, and the former TD leader, Mr K. Vidyadhara Rao, were bystanders. Mr Jogaiah said he would quit the Congress on August 17.

Even after opening the party office, the superstar was not willing to reveal anything about the date of launch of his party, its name and agenda. The only thing he was ready to disclose was that he was entering politics. "I will announce the new political outfit in a week and place before the people its name, shape and agenda," was all that he said.

Apparently, the actor has not revealed anything to the senior leaders who defected from other parties either. "Chiranjeevi is keeping his cards close to his chest," said a senior leader. "Though we meet him often, he doesn’t discuss his political plans with us. Everyone is kept in the dark."

Meanwhile, the Chiran-jeevi camp intensified its efforts to pull in more prospective leaders from the Congress and the Telugu Desam. The actor also asked his followers and fans to take part in the relief and rehabilitation measures in flood hit areas across the state.

Sources said Chiranjeevi would be performing a two-day Chandi Homam at Goddess Kamakshi temple in Kancheepuram near Chennai on August 21 and 22.

Hyderabad Saimira: http://www.hyderabadsaimira.com/News/NewsItem.aspx?newsid=4454