Ganesh Chaturthi, also known as Vinayak Chaturthi, is one of the most important festivals for Hindus. The festival is celebrated with utmost zest and fervour all over Maharashtra. Ganesh Chaturthi is also observed as the birth anniversary of the Elephant god, Lord Ganesha. As per Hindu scriptures, Lord Ganesha is also referred to as the God of wisdom, success and good luck. For the next 10 days starting today, devotees will worship their beloved Bappa. In a bid to please Lord Ganesha, the devotees will offer him his favourite bhog, modaks. So that the Vighnaharta eradicates all kinds of obstacles, fulfil their wishes and bless them with happiness, joy and peace. And since we all have ringed into the much-loved festival, in today’s column we will understand the numerological significance of Lord Ganesha, because every part of Ganpati Bappa’s body indicates something, let’s find out.
1: One big head: His big head specifies agile brain. His head also signifies big thoughts and achievements. ‘Think big and achieve big’, that’s what Ganesha’s head signifies.
2: Two ears and eyes: Two ears and three eyes – Ganesha’s big ears indicate importance of listening. It symbolizes that while you hear to all, grasp well, make use of what you hear, weather good or evil. His two small eyes symbolize the importance of focus in life. The third eye Indicates intuition and connecting to the higher energy.
3: Small feet: It indicates that one should be down to Earth and always keep feet on the ground. His small feet denote emotional and mental stability.
4: Four hands: It signifies importance of giving and taking in life. The left hand with modak means one should be ready to receive good wishes and also be ready t wish well for others. The right hand is raised to bless. The axe in his right hand symbolizes retrenchment. The noose in the left hand at the back denotes importance of capturing good things. It also indicates that ‘Opportunities knock at your door once, if you grab them’. The four arms of lord Ganesha represent the four inner attributes of subtle body, i.e., Mind (Manas), Intellect (Buddhi), Ego (Ahamkara), and Conditioned Conscience (Chitta).
5: Five fingers: His five fingers symbolises the 5 elements of the Universe – Water, wind, fire, Earth and Sky.
6: Mukut: The moon crest on his mukut (crown) is associated with Number 6. It represents beauty, calmness and peace.
7: Seven: This number signifies the seven colours of the rainbow. Seven musical notes, saat sur, even days of week, seven wonders of the world, seven pheras, seven chakras in the body, etc.
8: Big belly: His big belly is associated with Number 8. His big belly means one should be able to digest all the good and bad events of life. The big stomach of Ganesha teaches us to absorb all that is good, bad and ugly. Hostility, disappointments, hardships and resentment – we should learn to digest all and move on to better pasture of life.
9: Trunk: The lord’s long trunk depicts that one should be able to smell future, and able to have some insights into the future, smelling future is possible. Just like the trunk of the lord can be moved into any direction, we should be able to get indications from all directions to detect opportunities, possibilities as well as threats. We must be able to detect dangers. The sense of smell is one of our most powerful connections to the physical world.
