Ganesha - from Chaturthi to Chaturdashi
There are many interesting stories we know about Lord Ganesha, the remover of obstacles. Sharing a slightly lesser known one here.
Once Lord Ganesha was offered lots of sweets by his devotee. Ganesha had a weakness for the same and spent the whole day eating those sweets. While walking back, he stumbled and fell down and checked if anyone had seen him fall. He saw that Moon i.e., Chandra Dev had seen it and was laughing. Those days the Moon was full every night.
Lord Ganesha was angry and cursed the moon to go dark, who immediately asked for forgiveness. When Ganesha realized that the moon was indeed repenting he was quick to forgive him. But his words could not come back now, therefore, he told the Moon that you will disappear but will start to reappear slowly in 15 days time. But there would be one day when there will be no moon at all.
The Moon god breathed a sigh of relief.
Lord Ganesha also added that as you made fun of me on Chaturthi, anyone who looks at you on Chaturthi would face troubles in their lives & allegations.
The Astrological Side:
Most of our Hindu festivals have a strong basis on two elements in astrology. One is Tithi, the other is Nakshatra.
Ganesh Chaturthi is always celebrated in Sukla Chaturthi (in the waxing phase) of Bhadrapada in the Hastha Nakshatra of Moon. Interestingly, Sukla Chaturthi's deity is Lord Ganesha.
Also, the Ganpati celebrations lasts from Sukla Chaturthi to Sukla Chaturdashi (Anant Chaturdashi). The deity of Anant Chaturdashi is Shiva and nakshatra is Dhanishta i.e. covering a full journey across all nakshatras of every planet on the way.
Our tradition is deep rooted in symbolism. We can draw inferences in so many ways. Based on the story above, it could mean that from Chaturthi onwards till Chaturdashi our Mind(represented by Moon) should grow just as the moon does leading to Purnima (the day after Chaturdashi)
Another inference could be indicating a cycle of life, materialistic pursuits from Ganesh Chaturthi onwards (being the lord of knowledge and achievements) till Anant Chaturdashi that belongs to Shiva (the lord of destruction and renewals). No wonder Ganesha idols which are brought with much fanfare are finally immersed on Anant Chaturdashi indicating that everything operates in a cycle.
May Lord Ganesha bestow his blessings on all of us and help us progress in every aspect of our lives.
