HOW GANESH CHATURTHI FESTIVAL CELEBRATION IS USED IN TEACHING ENGLISH

Ganesh chathurthi festival celebrations in India by Vinayadhar Raju on Mixcloud

HOW GANESH CHATURTHI FESTIVAL CELEBRATION IS USED IN TEACHING ENGLISH(Audio file)

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Activities can be taken up:

1. Ask the students to prepare greeting cards with a message on it

2. Boost the students to write essay how this festival is celebrated.

3. Conduct speaking activity how they are going to celebrate or how they celebrated the festival.

4. Ask them to write  five messages to greet their friends and teachers.

5.Ask the students to tell a story related to the festival.

6. Motivate them to write the vocabulary related to the festival.

7. Inspire the students to describe the Ganesh.

8. Ask them to draw a picture of Ganesh.

9. Ask the students to describe how we worship the lord Ganesh (imperatives cab be used)

10. Stimulate the students to write a poem describing the lord Ganesh.

Some useful material or information to conduct the above activities:

 Ganesh Chaturthi 2012

When: Wednesday, 19th September 2012
Where:INDIA

The countdown to the birth of the elephant God has begun.

Although celebrated all across India, Ganesh Chaturthi (or Vinayak Chaturthi, as it's also known) is a really important festival especially in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in the Deccan and South India. This Ganesh festival is about bringing home brilliantly crafted idols of the God, and there he will sit in state till Ganesh Chaturthi on September 19, when he is devotedly immersed in water.

Lord Ganesha Description: - 

The Hindu deity in a human form but with the head of an elephant - represents the power of the Supreme Being that removes obstacles and ensures success in human endeavors. For this reason, Hindus worship Ganesha first before beginning any religious, spiritual or worldly activity. In Hindu mythology, Lord Ganesha is the first son of Lord Shiva and the Divine Mother Parvati. Their second son is Lord Subramanya and their daughter is Jyoti. As explained below, the portrayal of Lord Ganesha as the blend of human and animal parts symbolizes the ideals of perfection as conceived by Hindu sages and illustrates some philosophical concepts of profound spiritual significance.

• Elephant head, wide mouth, and large ears: the large head of an elephant symbolizes wisdom, understanding, and a discriminating intellect that one must possess to attain perfection in life. The wide mouth represents the natural human desire to enjoy life in the world. The large ears signify that a perfect person is the one who possesses a great capacity to listen to others and assimilate ideas.

• The trunk and two tusks with the left tusk broken: there is no known human instrument that has an operating range as wide as that of an elephant's trunk. It can uproot a tree and yet lift a needle off the ground. Likewise, the human mind must be strong enough to face the ups and downs of the external world and yet delicate enough to explore the subtle realms of the inner world. The two tusks denote the two aspects of the human personality, wisdom and emotion. The right tusk represents wisdom and the left tusk represents emotion. The broken left tusk conveys the idea that one must conquer emotions with wisdom to attain perfection.

• Elephant eyes: the elephant eyes are said to possess natural deceptiveness that allows them to perceive objects to be bigger than what they really are. Thus the elephant eyes symbolize the idea that even if an individual gets "bigger and bigger" in wealth and wisdom, he should perceive others to be bigger than himself; that is, surrender one's pride and attain humility.

• The four arms and various objects in the four hands: the four arms indicate that the Lord is omnipresent and omnipotent. The left side of the body symbolizes emotion and the right side symbolizes reason. An axe in the upper left hand and a lotus in the upper right hand signify that in order to attain spiritual perfection, one should cut worldly attachments and conquer emotions. This enables one to live in the world without being affected by earthly temptations, just as a lotus remains in water but is not affected by it. A tray of Laddus (a popular snack) near the Lord denotes that He bestows wealth and prosperity upon His devotees. The lower right hand is shown in a blessing pose, which signifies that Ganesha always blesses His devotees.

• A human body with a big belly: the human body possesses a human heart, which is a symbol of kindness and compassion toward all. Ganesha's body is usually portrayed wearing red and yellow clothes. Yellow symbolizes purity, peace and truthfulness. Red symbolizes the activity in the world. These are the qualities of a perfect person who perforrns all duties in the world, with purity, peace, and truthfulness. The big belly signifies that a perfect individual must have a large capacity to face all pleasant and unpleasant experiences of the world.

• A mouse sitting near the feet of Ganesha and gazing at the tray of Laddus: a mouse symbolizes the ego that can nibble all that is good and noble in a person. A mouse sitting near the feet of Ganesha indicates that a perfect person is one who has conquered his (or her) ego. A mouse gazing at the Laddus, but not consuming them, denotes that a purified or controlled ego can live in the world without being affected by the worldly temptations. The mouse is also the vehicle of Ganesha, signifying that one must control ego in order for wisdom to shine forth.

• Right foot dangling over the left foot: as stated above, the left side of the body symbolizes emotion and the right side symbolizes reason and knowledge. The right foot dangling over the left foot illustrates that in order to live a successful life one should utilize knowledge and reason to overcome emotions.

Ganesh Chaturthi Celebrations

Preparations for Ganesh Chaturthi- which marks the birth of the Lord Ganesh- begin up to ten days in advance, and sometimes even months in advance. In virtually every neighbourhood, a brightly decorated and painstakingly crafted Ganesh idol is made, to be illuminated and worshiped for all of the ten days leading up to Ganesh Chaturthi.

Grand Mandapams or stages are set up and filled with fresh flowers and the idols are dressed up in colourful clothes and glittering ornaments. There is keen competition to see which mandapam has been most artistically decorated and sometimes there is even a prize for the best dressed idol!

On the day of the Ganesh festival itself, sweets - especially laddoos and sugary modaks(undralu), which are a favourite of the God's -- are distributed (and consumed) and Ganesh temples are crowded with devotees who participate in the worship of the deity.

When all the festivities are over, the idols which have been worshipped over the past ten days are taken out in a grand procession. During this procession the much-adored God is hoisted on willing shoulders, or rides in open trucks and carriages.

Accompanied by fireworks displays, beating drums and the sound of thousands of voices singing devotional songs, the idols are ritually immersed in a nearby sea, lake or river. The immersion ceremony, which is known as the 'visarjan', marks the end of the festivities. The people dance with great enthusiasm and singing rents the air, urging the god to return post haste the next year.

"Ganpati bapa, mouriya! Pudcha varshi, laukar ya!" Hail Lord Ganesha, please return soon next year.

Significance of Ganesh Chaturthi 

The fervor with which devotees celebrate the birthday of their most loved deity – Lord Ganesha suggests the significance of Ganesh Chaturthi in their lives. According to the popular belief, Lord Ganesha descends on the earth on Ganesh Chaturthi to stay with his devotees for the course of ten days and clear all their obstacles. In return devotees pamper their beloved Lord Ganesha as an honoured guest and prepare his favourite sweets – modaks(undralu).

People also worship Ashtavinayak -- the eight embodiments of Lord Ganesha on Ganesh Chaturthi. It is believed that Ashtavinayak eliminated the negative energy of evil powers from this world and this belief adds to the significance of Ganesh Chaturthi as it is believed that Ganesha always come to eradicate the evil from this planet.

Breaking coconuts is considered auspicious on Ganesh Chaturthi as when it is smashed on the floor it absorbs the negative energy from the atmosphere and thus ensuring your success henceforth in every venture you undertake.

Ganesh Chaturthi Myth 

A popular myth associated with Ganesh Chaturthi is that one should refrain from looking at the moon on this day. The fable behind this myth goes like on one of his birthdays, Lord Ganesha after stuffing his belly with modaks(undralu), rode on his mouse that stumbled after seeing a snake. This resulted in Ganesha falling down, bursting out his stomach and spilling all the modaks(undralu). Ganesha stuffed all the modaks back into his stomach and tied his belly with the snake. Seeing this moon in the sky starting laughing heartily, which annoyed Ganesha and he cursed moon that anyone who will look at it on Ganesh Chaturthi will invite a bad luck. Since then people abstain from looking at the moon on the festival.

Ganesh Chaturthi Beliefs 

In Hindu mythology Lord Ganesha is known as the lord of beginnings and as the lord of obstacle remover. Hence all auspicious occasions and religious functions begin by invoking his blessings. According to Hindu mythology anyone who reveres Lord Ganesha before starting any religious occasion or marriage ceremony receives his blessings which help in a successful culmination of the occasion. Lord Ganesha is also associated with commerce and traders till date seek his blessings before starting any new venture.

GANESH Chaturthi messages or wishes:

Ganesh Chaturthi

May Lord Ganesh shower you with succss in all your Endeavours

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi.

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Gajanana Shri Ganaraya aadi vandu tujha Moraya

Ganpati Bappa Morya!Mangal Murti Morya

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi.

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I wish u Happy Ganesh Chaturthi and

I pray to God for your prosperous life.

May you find all the delights of life,

May your all dreams come true.

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Gajanana Shri Ganaraya aadi vandu tujha Moraya

Ganpati Bappa Morya!Mangal Murti Morya

JAY GANESH..Mangal murti morya

Jay ganesh devaGanapati bappa moray

Happy Ganesh Chaturthy!!!

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Ganesh ki jyoti se noor miltahai

Sbke dilon ko surur milta hai,

Jobhi jaata hai ganesha ke dwaar,

Kuch na kuch zarror milta hai

Jai Shri Ganesha

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Hoping this ganesh chatrurthi

Will be the start of year that

Brings happiness for you.

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!

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This, is a special time when family

And friends get together, for fun.

Wishing laughter and fun to cheer your days,

In this festive season of GANESHA PUJA and always!

“Happy Ganesh Puja”

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Aapka sukh gabesh ke peth jitna bda ho,

Aapka dukh undar jesa chota ho,

Aapki life ganeshji ke sund jitni badi ho,

Aapke bol modak jaise mithe ho

BOLO GANPATI BAPPA MORAIYAA!!!

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I wish u Happy Ganesh Chaturthi and

I pray to God for your prosperous life.

May you find all the delights of life,

May your all dreams come true.

“Happy Ganesh Chaturthi”

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Wishing you happiness as big as Ganesh’s appetite

life is long as his trunk

trouble as small as his mouse

and moments as sweet as his laddus

Sending you wishes on Ganesh Chaturthi!

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May Lord Ganapathi shower you with success in all your endeavors? Happy Ganesh Chaturthy.

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At ganesh chatruthi hoping this Ganesh chatruthi will be the start of year that brings the happiness ganesh chaturthi. Jay Shri Ganesh!!

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I heartily wish Lord Ganesha filled your home with prosperity and fortune. Best wishes on Ganesh Chatrurthi!

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GANPATI BAPA MORIYA

AADHA LADDU CHORIYA

AGLE BARAS TU JALDI AA

HAPPY Shri Ganesh

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May the Lord vigna vighna vinayaka

remove all obstacles and shower you with gifts

Jai Shri Siddhi Vinayaka Ganesha

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Hoping that this Ganesh chatruthi will be

the start of year that brings the happiness

that lord Ganesh fills your home with prosperity & fortune

Best wishes on ganesh chatrurthi

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May GANAPATHI shower you with succss in all that you do

Happy Ganesh chaturthy.

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