The Essence of Hindu Tradition & Culture

E-book from Kanchi Periva Forum

Volume 5
Published: September 2012

Vinayaka Chaturthi
Special edition
Compiled by:
- Devotees of Kanchi Periva Forum

Vinayakar Painting by:

- Sri Narayanan Bala

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Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3
Sri Vinayakar Painting by Sri Narayanan Bala ............................................................................................ 4
Sri Maha Periva on Lord Vinayaka ................................................................................................................ 5
Deivathin Kural Volume 4 : Suklam Bharatham.................................................................................. 5
Deivathin Kural Volume 6 : Sixteen Names of Vinayaka .................................................................... 6
1.

Sumukar ........................................................................................................................................ 6

2.

Ekadantar: always ready to give up .............................................................................................. 7

3.

Kapilar: the vinayaka of Tiruchenkattukudi .................................................................................. 7

4.

Gajakarnakar ................................................................................................................................. 8

5.

Lambodarar ................................................................................................................................... 8

6.

Vikatar ........................................................................................................................................... 9

7.

Vignarajar ...................................................................................................................................... 9

8.

Vinayakar: the twin lord vigneswarar ......................................................................................... 10

9.

Dhoomaketu ............................................................................................................................... 11

10.

Ganatyakshar .......................................................................................................................... 13

11.

Phalachandrar ......................................................................................................................... 13

12.

Gajananar ................................................................................................................................ 14

13.

Vakratundar ............................................................................................................................ 15

14.

Soorpakarnakar ....................................................................................................................... 16

15.

Herambar ................................................................................................................................ 17

16.

Skandapoorvajar ..................................................................................................................... 18

Hear Sri Maha Perivas discourse about Vinaayakar .................................................................................. 19

Virtual darshan of Lord Ganesha ................................................................................................................ 20
Sri Vinayaka Chaturthi PoojaVidhanam ...................................................................................................... 21
Sri Vinayaka Chaturthi Naivedyam - recipes ............................................................................................... 22
Sweet Kozhukattai/ Modakam................................................................................................................ 22
UppuKozhukattai / Kara Kozhukattai ...................................................................................................... 23
Chick peas/ Channa Sundal ..................................................................................................................... 25
Pasipparuppu / Moong dal Payasam ...................................................................................................... 26
Sri Ashta Vinayak Darshan .......................................................................................................................... 27

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Shri Kanchi Maha Periva Thiruvadigal Saranam

Introduction
Hari Om!
We are pleased to bring you the Fifth edition of the e-book series from the Kanchi Periva
Forum. This time around, our ebook happens to be a special edition on the occasion of
Vinayaka Chaturthi which falls on Wednesday 19th September 2012.
This Ebook contains excerpts from Maha Perivas enchanting discourses on Lord Ganesha
taken from Deviating Kural, a beautiful compilation of Perivas sweet audio discourse on
Pillaiyaar, the detailed procedures to do Sri Vinayaka Chaturthi Pooja (Tamil, English and
Sanskrit links) as well as link to a Tamil audio guide for the Pooja, and some common
recipes for Naivedhyam during the Chaturthi pooja.
We would like to convey our special thanks and appreciation to Sri B N, who has provided
us his beautiful painting to be used in this ebook (appearing in the next page).
All of us know that Lord Ganesha is the most accessible form of all deities. He is available to
devotees not only in big shrines but also in small street temples and simply beneath the
trees, especially in South India. Simple forms of worship are enough to please this mighty
Lord and all that is required is just a devout heart and devotion.
Keeping this in mind, we have also brought out some lovely forms of Lord Ganesha for you
to enjoy a virtual darshan, and you can see the extent of influence the Lord has on our day
to day life. You can also have a beautiful darshan of Ashta Vinayakar at the end of this
Ebook. We are sure that this special edition of our Ebook will be a feast to your eyes and we
request you to forward this to all your friends and relatives to enjoy.
For those who are not familiar about our website and forum, we welcome you to visit
www.periva.org for a collection of rare videos and complete online library of upanyasams
of Sri Maha Periva. Please also register on the forum www.periva.proboards.com to stay
updated on devotees experiences and to receive our regular newsletters.
We humbly submit this fifth e-book at the lotus feet of Shri Maha Periva. Feedback about
the e-book may be shared with us at kanchiperiva@gmail.com.
Administrator - Kanchi Periva Forum
kanchiperiva@gmail.com

Jaya Jaya Shankara, Hara Hara Shankara!

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Sri Vinayakar Painting by Sri Narayanan Bala

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Sri Maha Periva on Lord Vinayaka

Deivathin Kural Volume 4 : Suklam Bharatham
Now about this sloka starting with suklaambaradaram, which we all say to start with any
of our religious and ceremonial karya, though thought to be addressed towards PiLLaiyar;
does not contain any reference to PiLLaiyar, surprisingly!
None of his names such as, GaNapathy, GaNesa, Vinayaka, and or words such as, Gowrisuta
or Sivatmaja; have been used in the sloka. His vahanam (carrier mooshika the rodent
rat), or favourite weapon (paashahastha), or favourite dish (modaka) find a mention in that
sloka!
None of his physical identifications such as, gajamukha (elephant faced), ekadanta (whose
one tusk had been broken thus giving him the name of single tusked); or lambhodara
(whose tummy is big); are referred! Not mentioning even a single one of his famous
exploits!
The sloka is as follows:- shuklaambaradharam, vishnum, sasivarNam, chaturbhujam I
prasannavadanam dyaayet sarvavignaupasaantaye II shuklaambaradharam = wearing
white dress; so do all males. Those who wear other colours are referred as
pitambaradhari or raktambaradhari wearing yellow or red dress respectively. So, the
first word does not refer to only PiLLaiyar!
Next word is, vishnum! This means, Omni present, especially known as a name for
PiLLaiyars uncle and not him! So, the nephew gets the name of his maternal uncle and we
also are reminded of him only and not PiLLaiyar!
Next is, sasivarNam = of the colour of the moon; so is Easwara and Saraswathy! This is
followed by chaturbhujam = four armed; this is the common characteristic of all deities!
So, again it does not necessarily refer to PiLLaiyar! Then the sloka talks of,
prasannavadanam = smiling faced; can you think of a God who is not having a pleasant
smiling face?
Except for KaaLi, Nrusimha Murthy, Veera Bhadra and such UgraSwaroopa-s, all Gods are
pleasant faced only! But, more than any other God, in one way, it will be agreed that
PiLLaiyar has a smiling face dripping happiness, with a broad countenance of a baby
elephant!
For each of the above five words, we have to knock on the fore-head with our knuckles,
known in Tamil as kuttik-koLvadhu- five times! Then we have to do dhyaayet that is
think deeply of, sarvavignaupasaantaye!
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Having not mentioned a word of his name or any of the known characteristics, now you
have to deeply think about that special ability of that God, who can get all your trouble
cancelled! That is PiLLaiyar!
Before starting on any venture or endeavour, think of him and pray say this sloka and at
least once do the kuttu!
Even before the child grows up to be able to learn any of these sloka-s by heart, the child is
told, Son, before starting anything, think of PiLLaiyar and pray to him to obviate all sorts of
problems.
Then as he grows up, the moment he hears the words, sarvavignaupasaantaye, he knows
that we are praying to our PiLLaiyar. The word vishnu in the sloka is indicative of the very
closeness between the uncle and nephew!

Deivathin Kural Volume 6 : Sixteen Names of Vinayaka

Sixteen is a highly acclaimed number. We call it "shodasakalapoornam". Shodasa means 16.
Starting from new moon to full moon there are 16 phases of the moon. When reaching the
16thphase the moon becomes the full moon.
A fairly elaborate pooja comprises the 16 types of formalities, called the shodasaupachara.
Like how the seven goddesses are called saptamathruka, there are also 16 goddesses called
the shodasamathruka. Among the mantras of rajarajeshwari the shodasaakshari (i.e. 16
alphabets) are the most famous. Therefore, there is a name for the goddess, called
shodashi.
In Tamilnadu, it is a tradition to bless "may you get 16 types of boons and live a great life".
I clarify that "get sixteen" does not mean "get children", but point to "sixteen types" of good
things that are useful to leading a good life.
The gifts are sixteen; the names of ganesh are also sixteen!

1. Sumukar
In this the first is sumukar. In the 16, the first and the foremost is the name sumukar. When
welcoming someone we say welcome "with a good face" we call it saying "mukaman". The
first name is given to call in that manner.
In society we say that all the people should interact with "a good face" i.e. live in a
cooperative manner. Sumukam means good face. A good face or sumukam is one
overflowing with love and happiness. In Tamil we also call "inmukam". The love and
happiness in the heart, when expressed through the face is "sumukam".

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Face is the index of the mind is an old saying, isn't it? Vigneshwarar expresses his love in
the heart through is good face. The good face that shows the loving mind is the sumukam.
Vigneswarar has such a face.
In the "suklambaradam" sloka "prasannavadanam" comes isn't it? That is the "sumukam"
because of love and because of the happiness emerging out of love, the heart blossoms and
that expresses in the face and that expression is the "prasannavadanam". Clarity and
brilliant are "prasannam". The su in sumukam refers to that 'prasannam'.

2. Ekadantar: always ready to give up

Next ekandatar.Sumakach- chaikadanthascha: -- second name is ekadantar. It means the
one with one tusk. Single tusked. Normally the male elephant has two tusks. Female
elephant has no tusks. For vigneswarar, only one tusk.
For him also initially there were 2 tusks. He, onhis own, broke the right tusk. In statues, we
can see him keeping the broken tusk in his right hand.
Why did he break? Mythologically they tell two stories.
When vyasa was narrating Mahabharata, immediately vigneswarar had to quickly write
them on the rocks of the Himalayas. At that time instead of running around in search of the
scribes, he decided to break one of his tusks and wrote them- this is one story.
The story's morale is: For the sake of knowledge development, vigneswarar decided to
sacrifice a part of his body among the parts of the elephant's body which is claimed to
be 1000 golds worth even with it is dead and that too the most valuable part (i.e. the
tusk) while still alive thus showing his noble quality.
The second story, he broke his own tusk and used it as a weapon to terminate
gajamukasura (the demon with elephant head) who could not be terminated by any other
weapon. This story shows that for the sake for worldly good he was ready to give up all of
his that was needed.
Usually for this ability to give up, dadisai is shown as example. The tusk is also the
elephants bone only. Therefore, vigneswarar is also "the example of selfless" and the
embodiment of love.

3. Kapilar: the vinayaka of Tiruchenkattukudi

Third name is kapila. It means the one who is in Brick red color.
In the various forms, vigneswarar is in various colors. In the suklambaradaramsloka he is
white like the color of the moon (sasivarnam). At Tiruvalachuzi near Kumbakonam, and at
Idubavanam near Tiruturaipoondi, there is white colored vignewararcalled
svetavinayakar.
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Auvaiyar in her ahaval calls him blue colored. She in another song "vakkkundam" calls him
coral colored. May be the child god would have granted that old grandmother his divine
darshan in various forms.
In the north, people spread a lot of red turmeric on vigneswarar.
In our chola (south India) area, the place with a temple called "ganapathischuram" is
chenkatu- putting "thiru" in the front and "kudi" at the end it was named
Tiruchenkaattaankudi.
In Tamil books, the ta would be shorter and the name is written as Tiruchenkaattankudi. It
became a chenkatu (means red forest) because when vigneswarar terminated
gajamukasura the asura's blood filled the entire forest. At that time vigneswarar also
become red. Not brick red, but we can take that when the blood color stained the black
elephant's skin, it became "kapila" color.

4. Gajakarnakar
Next name is gajakarnakar. It means the one with "elephant ears". It is not enough to say
that he has elephant face, i.e. gajamukar. This name is given as though to emphasize that his
ears are also indeed elephant ears.
What is the speciality in the elephant's ears?
For other god forms, there will be a quadrant like big ear ring in their ears, extending up to
their shoulders. We may have to search for the ears between these quadrants and the
crown of the lord in these statues. By looking at the big ear ring we have to normally
assume the location of the ears. Only the lord vigneswarar is the exception to this. His
elephant ears spread on both sides of his elephant face, big enough to match the size of his
face.
Is it not the lord's ears that should listen to our prayers and wishes? If the ears are not
visible clearly are we not a bit dissatisfied? Only the lord vigneswarar with his elephant
ears widely open facing us, unlike other god forms whose ears are facing the sides of their
heads, listens to all our prayers nicely, and gives us the encouragement we need.

5. Lambodarar
The next name is lambodarar, with the pot belly. Lambam means hangs, utaram means
belly. Means has a big pot belly. Lord Ganesha is called by the foreigners as pot bellied. In
the ahaval it comes as "pezhaivayirum".
He keeps a modaka filled with the coconut (called poornam), reminding us that he is the
embodiment of the totality. So he has a full round stomach. It symbolizes full contentment.
Because it encompasses the various universes it is egg shaped.

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In the modakam the white dough covers the sweet poornam. Modakam means happiness,
or that which gives happiness. The lord Ganesha is the embodiment of such happiness, and
is the modaka. He gives the sweet love to all and gives happiness (love is honey in
Sanskrit). Ma means male elephant.
We can say that the lord has taken the form of the elephant, as the embodiment of
happiness, encompassing the absolute reality of brahma which is nothing but love, like how
the dough is covering the sweet poornam in the modaka.
To demonstrate that the inside is the nice sweet poornam, the round modaka, and pot belly
for him. There is no beginning or end for a ball. There is it is the symbol for the absolute
reality (Brahman). He has a pot belly to symbolize that principle.

6. Vikatar
The next name is vikatar. We use the word vikatam to refer to teasing, and making fun of
someone. There is a special taste in that fun. We call the person who coins funny words as
"vikatakavi".
There is a word game with that name. This word reads the same (in Tamil) when read from
the end "vi-ka-ta-ka-vi". Talking very smartly and fooling someone is called
"akatavikatam". Though it is fooling, the smartness in the act will make even the victim
laugh. There is an art called vikata. There are persons well versed in that, as well as
mimicry, and perform like a concert.
The lord vigneswarar does a lot of pranks. When the god and goddess father and mother
are in a fight or anger, he comes there and makes some fun or prank and brings them
together. He went in the form of a crow and fooled agastyar and gave us the entire river
Cauvery. He went as a bachelor and fooled vibhishanar and made him install the
sriranganathar along the Cauvery river bank.
In the place called gokarna he fooled vibhishana's elder brother ravana and made his install
the Siva linga there. All these are the practical jokes that vikatar performed it became a
problem for another person. However, though they were fooled- the pranks lord Ganesha
performed with agastyar, ravanana, vibhishanaled to good things for the world.
The Cauvery, lord sriranganatha and Kailasalinga were transformed from being individual
properties to publicly useful assets for the entire humanity. These are because the grace of
the lord vigneswarar. And he did it as pranks.

7. Vignarajar
The next name is "vignarajar". That is vigneswarar. The lord of obstacles (vigna) is verily
the king (raja) of vigna i.e. vigna raja. We may consider that iswara (lord) is much greater
than the king. But if we go to the root of these words, iswara is also the person who does
what a king does.
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The root word "ish" means to rule. The one who rules is therefore iswaran. In the names of
the lord, the words raja, iswaran, and Nathan all appear to convey the same meaning. We
call the name nataraja as natesan and nateswaran.
The name ranga raja is called as ranganathan and rangesagan. The name "thirunavukarasar" is called "vag-isar". Similarly, vigna raja and vigneswarar both mean the same.
This name vigna raja displays the distinct authority that the lord vigneswarar wields. What
is his distinct authority? As we have a specific department for each lord form: Brahma is for
creation, Vishnu for protection, and rudra for destruction, durga for victory, lakshmi for
wealth, saraswati for knowledge, and danvantari for curing illness, what is the distinct
department for lord vigneswarar?
It is to remove obstacles. Whatever task we take, to avoid any obstacles or mishaps in it, we
pray to the lord vigeswarar at the very beginning itself. The form that the primodal entity
took in order to remove obstacles is called the vigneswarar or vigna raja.

8. Vinayakar: the twin lord vigneswarar

Vignarajovinayaka: -- after the name vignaracomesvinayaka.
We often install two idols of lord vigneswarar as twin. In many towns there will a street
with the name "twin vigneswarar" street. In those streets, there will be two vigneswarar
statues in the same altar, sitting next to each other. Instead of a separate temple, such twin
vigneswarar are also found in Siva temples.
No other deity has such twin idols being worshipped. Only lord vigneswarar has this
practice. He is called often twin vigneswarar.
In these twin vigneswarar one is vignaraja and another is vinayaka.
When we say vigneswarar and vignaraja we should not take the meaning that the lord is
the king of making obstacles. I had told you that we should take the meaning that the lord
got the name vigneswarar because like how kings have the power to vanquish enemies and
avert bad events, the lord has the power to erase the bad thing called obstacle.
Normally, when we pray to him calling him vigneswarar we should relate to him with this
feeling only.
We have done several mistakes in our past lives and have carried them with us in this life.
Nonetheless, with the blessing of the lord we now have developed some devotion to the
lord vigneswarar, and we pray to him all the activities that we start should be successful
without obstacles and begin our activities.
Okay, just because we pray like this, will it be correct that he overlook our past karma and
simply grant success in our endeavors. Though he may forgive because of compassion, can
he simply cancel all the previous karmas? Would it be correct? If it were so, how will people
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have fear of sin? Then, righteousness and justice will not prevail, isn't it? Will it not become
that "we could have committed and can commit any sin; now if we worship a little bit to
vigneswarar, all the mistakes will be fully forgiven"?
To avoid this type of situation only, he creates obstacles as vignaraja. "create" does not
mean that he intentionally unjustly creates obstacles to trouble us. Based on our past
karma, there will be a balance sheet of our good and bad deeds, deciding on our success on
endeavors. Therefore, the root cause of what appears to be obstacle created by him is in
fact a mistake committed by us in the past.
That mistake will definitely pose obstacles to most of our efforts and trouble us by eluding
success. Therefore, if we make efforts just on our own we will be unsuccessful. We will
consistently fail because the obstacles will be enormous. Otherwise, it may allow us to get
some easy wins in trivial activities, and pay us back on a major matter - as if bang on our
heads with a serious defeat!
To avoid such an eventuality, like how a dam is created to let the water out downstream
slowly in small quantities, instead of a flood that will wash away everything devastating the
things around, the vignaraja ensures that the obstacles that we need to face in order to
wash away our sins are channelized in small counts and intervals.
In addition, the lord ensures that the water is not only channelized but also allowed to dry
up. That is, he pull with his trunk that great obstacle which would otherwise harm us
immensely, and because of his compassion he dissects it into smaller pieces, let us
experience it in smaller counts, and does not let the remaining also harm us in one go, but
come in smaller counts each time, so that we can bear each piece of the obstacle.
Is it not good so long the past karmas are erased sooner? Only when the past karma is
erased there is chance for liberation? If the past karma is postponed, how much more will
we be loading to the baggage? To avoid this, he brings the obstacles forward, and lets us
experience itthough it appears painful indeed the vignaraja is the lord who is doing us
good in this manner.

9. Dhoomaketu
Dhoomaketu is the next name. Dhoomam means smoke. Normal smoke from firewood, coal
is to be called dhoomam, while the nice smelling incense, and herb smoke is to be called
dhupam. In the five protocol rituals (panchoupachara) we show dhupam. Dhoomam is
smoke, ketu means flag. The one who has the smoke as his flag is dhoomaketu.
The lord of fire is also called dhoomaketu, because the smoke coming out of the fire sways
like a flag in the wind. However, normally people do not take a good meaning for
dhoomaketu, but only an inauspicious meaning (or something that will cause
inauspiciousness). The reason is "dhoomaketu" also means a meteor.
The meteor always causes destruction in the world. Then how come the lord vigneswarar
who grants auspiciousness can have that name I could not decipher.
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I read the vinayaka puranam (epic on lord vigneswarar). There two epics on lord
vigneswarar. One told by sage brugu. Therefore it is called bhargavapuranam. Things
related to "raghu" are called "raghava", in the same way "brugu" related one is called
"bhargava".
There is another epic of lord vigneswarar called mutkalapuranam, because it was taught by
sage mutkala. Like brugu bhargava mutkala related is not called "mautkalya" but just as
"mutkala" puranam. I would like to point to bhargavapuranam with regard to our
discussion on dhoomaketu.
In that epic there are two chapters called upasanakandam (chapter) and leelakandam. In
the leelakandam surprisingly, there are 12 reincarnations of lord vigneswarar mentioned,
and each is given a name. Accordingly one reincarnation is called Ganeshar; other names
for his incarnations are vakratundar, palachandrar, gajananar, which come in the 16
names. In these there is a story about the incarnation with the name dhoomaketu. After
reading this only I understood how this name was attributed to the lord vigneswarar.
The story was --- I had read this many years ago and therefore I will try to narrate briefly to
the extent I can remember. [The acharya laughed] only when I tell briefly, I can escape
without making mistakes.
There was a demon named dhoomasuran. Like the asuras (demons) who come in
bhagavatam, such as vrudasuran, mahabali, some demons also have good qualities, and
devotion. However, the demonic qualities will also be showing up dominantly in their
behavior. One such demon is dhoomasuran.
At that time there was a king. Dhoomasuran came to know that he will be killed by the lord
Vishnu will be born as the son to the pregnant wife of the king. Therefore, he ordered his
general to go at night time to the bedroom of the king and kill the queen. However, when
the general went there, he had no heart to kill a noble woman, that too a pregnant woman.
He did not also have the heart to separate the couple. So he picked them both a couple
along with their cot and threw then in the thick of the forest. The couple who were
devotees of lord vignewarar prayed to him constantly, seeking his grace to remove all
obstacles and difficulties for a safe delivery of the child and to return to the kingdom.
Dhoomasuran came to know that the king and queen were hiding invisibly the forest.
Immediately he went there armed with all his weapons. What do you think the weapon that
he had specialized in? What is his name? Dhoomasuran? Dhooma means smoke? He was
skilled in using a weapon which will create toxic smoke.
Even in these days, don't we have weapons such as the "tear gas" which are not so harmful,
to gas shells which contain life threatening toxic gases? What is created using chemicals
now was created using the power mantra in those days.
With the intention of killing the pregnant queen with the child in the womb, and the king
next to her, when he went to them, he found that there was already a child in her lap! The
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lord vigneswarar had manifested there, listening to the prayers of the king and queen, in
the form of the son, representing the incarnation lord Vishnu.
He also showed by this miracle, that he is the embodiment of all deities. The fact that son of
lord Siva was born as the incarnation of Vishnu, also highlights the unity between saivism
and vaishavism. This is acknowledged in the first sloka "suklambaradaramvishnum."
As Dhoomasuran kept throwing his smoke weapon, a large cloud of toxic smoke sped
towards to the royal couple. The child lord vigneswarar swallowed all the smoke cloud in
his body. The demon became tired unable to throw any more weapon.
At that time, the lord vigneswarar decided to kill the demon. He decided not to use any new
weapon for that purpose. He decided to kill him using the same smoke that he had
swallowed. He ejected from his mouth the cloud of smoke vigorously. That smoke killed the
demon. The lord, who used the smoke as a weapon and raised the flag of victory, got the
name dhoomaketu.
Dhoomam is also called as dhoomram. Therefore, dhoomaketu is also called dhoomraketu.

10. Ganatyakshar
Dhoomaketur-ganatyaksha: in the 16 names after dhoomaketu comes ganatyakshar. Ganaatyakshar.Atyakshar means the person who supervises, or leader or head (with the head
only even the westerners call head of government, head-priest and so on!). Until recent
times, vice chancellors were called upa-atyakshar.
What we mean by Gana-pathy, ganesar (gana-esar), ganatipathy (gana-atipathy) gananathar is the nothing else but the meaning for ganatyakshar.
Lord Siva appointed lord vigneswarar as the head of his ghost-like servants and the
younger son lord subramanian as the head of his angel-like servants. We say
"gajananambhutaganathisevitham". We call the younger son, deva senathipathy. He is so in
two ways: he is the lord of the servants of the angels; he is also the husband of the daughter
of indra, devasena. It is more difficult of course to supervise and manage the ghosts, than
boss over the angels. The elder son is delivering this difficult responsibility with ease and
happiness.
The angels and human beings all know his great powers, and his kind heart, and therefore
perform prayers to him in obeisance. Therefore, when he is called ganatyakshar we can say
that he is indeed the supervisor for all the beings.

11. Phalachandrar
The next name is phalachandrar. We must watch the pronunciation: phaalachandra. The
first letter is phaa and not baa.

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You may find it funny; the name palachandran is not the name of the moon at all. At the
name should not be pronounced as balachandran. It is phaalachandran the paa is the
(second) phaa in Sanskrit. That is the correct name. Phaalam refers to the front part of the
hair. Phaalachandran means the one who keeps the moon in the front part of the hair.
The meaning of phaalachandran is the same as the meanings of chandrasekaran, and
Chandra mouli.
The one keeps the moon in his head is the lord Siva. However, two more people have that
praise. The goddess parvati, kalidasa [in syamalatandakam] praises her as "Chandra
kalavadamse". Sankaracharya also praises her that she does not just look as though she
took the left part of the husband, but when he makes fun that it appears that she indeed
took his entire form, he praises her wearing the moon on her crown, as
"sasisoodalamakutam". In the [lalita] sahasaranam, the name 'charuchandrakaladhara'
comes.
Not just the wife of lord Siva, his elder son also wears the moon on his crown.

12.

Gajananar

Gajananar is the next name. It means the one with the elephant face. The poet auvaiyar
sang, "kolamcheitungakarimukattutoomaniye" calling the lord as karimukar.
The elephant has several positive attributes. Body strength; intelligence; particularly sharp
memory; knowledge; though it has great power to just stamp human being with its massive
body (like how clothes are smashed against stones), it is so gentle and obedient and
according to the training given by the mahout, it brings large logs of wood for social
activities, fighting against the enemy in the war, not showing destructive qualities but
displaying the nature to work very hard, eat satvic vegetarian food; won the title that
"worth a 1000 gold even after it is dead" because of the ivory which is priceless even after
the elephant is dead like this we cannot count the several positive attributes of the
elephant.
Among the animals, it is the only one which as the trunk representing the hand. Can any
other animal sway the fan to the lord as an elephant does? Can any other animal lift its
trunk like an elephant and salute?
Other animals can only push another person; they cannot lift the person and put on their
back. Only the elephant can lovingly cuddle the person with its trunk and lift to a position
above itself and keep him on its back.
It is very special that the elephant who has immense strength and large body is like this.
When it encounters a person on its way, it is only the elephant that has an option other
than merely just colliding with that person. It will lift that person gently by curving its
trunk and leave the person aside and then move on.

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It has a name "dvipam". Dvi-pam means to drink twice, or eat twice. How is the elephant
"dvipam"? It first takes the food or water with the tip of its trunk. Later it puts it in its
mouth. Unlike other animals instead of directly devouring the food with the mouth, the
elephant takes it with its hands (trunk) like human beings and eats it so it is dvipam.
But when spitting, it will spit from the mouth only if it is a solid. If it is a liquid it will squirt
like a fountain from its trunk. There is a big principle behind this behavior. When we take
something in, we should inspect it more than once and then only take it. But what should
be eschewed should be discarded in one breath without any wavering. The elephant
demonstrates this principle by its dvipam.

13.

Vakratundar

The next name is vakratundar.

When the amaram listed the names for face we also found the name tundam. Normally
tundam means face, but in the case of animals such as pig and elephant which have a
special nose, the tundam means nose. What is special the pig's nose?
In the case of cow, goat, and horse the nose tapers small when it ends. But for the pig
though the nose tapers a bit in the beginning, it finally becomes very large and flat when it
ends. For the elephant the nose hangs like a trunk. This trunk is only called tundam. For
birds the nose ends as a sharp dot. It is called "alahu" in Tamil. In Sanskrit that is also called
tundam only.
While the head is the most important in the body, the nose is the most important in the
face. While the mouth is the most important by its function, the nose is the most important
for the form. We describe the good or bad look of a person as sharp nose and flat nose, by
pointing to the shape of his nose only. In this nose also the trunk, i.e. nose of the elephant
which has special shape, is called trunk.
Vakram means curve.
We say "he is very vakram" about the person who does cunning things. We derogatorily call
that character in a person as "vakra character. Why do we call good character as "straight"?
Righteousness is straight. The straight line is the shortest path connecting two points. The
curved line goes around here and there and does not reach the destination point quickly.
In the same way, without any distraction reaching the desired goal is the straight forward
character. In English also it is called straight forwardness. In Sanskrit the word for straight
i.e. "arjavam" is also used to mean the straight forward character. It comes from the root
word "ruju".
What is not straight is twisted, and in the same way we call a person who is not straight
forward as "twisted personality". That is also called "vakrabuddhi" (cunning character).

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In the vakratundam the vakra is not used to imply any bad meaning. It only means curved
trunk. Because the lord vigneswarar has curved his trunk to the side, he is called vakra
tundra.
While an elephant can bend its trunk without taking it to any side, the lord vigneswarar is
always bending with his trunk on one side -- mostly having the form with his trunk on the
left side, and rarely with the trunk on the right side. Therefore, he is given the specific name
"vakra tundra".
We have a stotram, "Vakratundamahakaya".
The poet dhishitar sang "pranavaswaroopavakratudam". When the trunk is twisted in the
right side it takes the shape of the letter Om. Then only the shape of letter Om appears.
Finally, because he twists his trunk without leaving it straight down, we get to see the
shape of the letter Om. The special meaning of the name vakratundar given to him is
because of that.
If we mentally repeat the various thefts done by the lord Krishna we will not imbibe any
stealthy thoughts. If we mentally repeat the various lustful acts that he did, people say that
we will be able to destroy lust in us. Like that, if we mentally repeat the curved trunk of the
lord vigneswarar we will destroy cunning feelings in us.
In the gayatri mantra for lord vigneswarar, only this name is used, when we say that "we
meditate on this form with a curved trunk". This mantra has been created to direct our
minds in the proper direction. In such a mantra "vakram" comes to only remove the
vakram in us.

14.

Soorpakarnakar

Soorpakarnakar is the next name. After that there are only 2 more names.
Soorpakarnakar means the one with ears like bamboo sieve. Soorpam means sieve.
Soorpanakai means the one with nails like a sieve. Soorpa naka according to Sanskrit
grammar rules becomes 'soorpaNaka'. If the nail is the size of the sieve one can imagine
how big her form would have been.
Why there is already one name "gajakarnakar" why another name as "soorpakarnakar"
saying something again is normally a fault it is not so in this case.
While he has a large unfolded ear like an elephant, which he spreads and listens to all our
prayers, he is called gajakarnakar. However, is he only listening to our prayers? The lord
who is present at all times and everywhere is also listening to other things that we talk.
Three fourths of these are useless talks. They may be unwanted matters. Why many of our
prayers are silly ones! If he sincerely listens to each and grants them what will happen?
Therefore, while he hears them all, while hearing he discards those that not to be
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considered, and only listens to those that are worthy of his attention. Only to demonstrate
that he is called soorpakarnar and the one with the ears of sieve.
Why? What does a sieve do? It separates the grains from the husks and stones? In his form
also, the lord swings the large ear (looking how the bamboo sieve is swung), and discards
the unwanted matters in us and listens to only the useful matters that we pray to him.
I mean that he listens to only the useful matters in our prayers. He ensures that he keeps in
his ears only those good matters.
I also explained that he swings his ears to bring breeze on his ears which are oozing with
his musth water, to sway away the bees that come to drink the musth and play with them.
When we compare that swaying to the bamboo sieve, we understand that discards
unwanted matters and takes in useful matters.
Unlike other animals, he does not have closed ears, but has open earswe should not think
that we can therefore make any prayer to him and he will fulfill them. He hears all for a fact.
But while hearing, he assesses which one is proper and which one is not, and takes in only
the proper ones. To signify this, he is called by a specific name, soorpakarnar.

15.

Herambar

The next name is herambar. To my knowledge no one has given a convincing meaning for
this name by splitting the word to its root words. Perhaps, I have not understood properly?
There is a great scholar by the name bhaskararayar who should be respectfully listed as
one among several celebrities. His annotation for the lalitasahasranam is considered very
insightful. Such a person has also written annotation for the ganeshsahasranam.
I checked what the explanation he has given for heramba is. Herambar is given the
meanings "the person who established the saivaite tradition" and "the one with
extraordinary valor" in that annotation.
While the scholar is a highly respected one, unfortunately when I read it I somehow could
not find the link between those two names and him, perhaps because of my inabilities.
Researchers say that the buffalo in Tamil (which is erumai), became heramba!
While Sanskrit is famous for being able to split the letters in words to its roots to derive the
meanings, there are several exceptions to that. The names which came because of a
meaning are called "yaukikam".
What can be etymologically derived is called yaukikam. However words which do not have
a reason, but are just names for name sake are called "ruti". The word heramba comes in
this ruti category.
When pandavas were ruling in the indraprasta before going to the forest, dharma raja
wished to perform the raja suyayagna, and prior to that he sent his four brothers to win in
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all four directions. At that time the one who went to the south and won kingdoms was
sahadevan.
The bharatham mentions that one of the kingdoms that he won is called herambam. May be
that only is the Mysore in latter days? Mysore is a variation mahisur mahisaoor -- a place
with mahishu. Mahisham means buffalo. Some say there is link between herambam and
buffalo!
People of that kingdom lost to sahadevan. However, we come to know that they were
always boasting about themselves. Therefore, those who boast are called "herambar".
That form of lord vigneswarar that was mostly worshipped there could have been called
'herambaganapathi".
This is merely my guess. It could even be wrong. What I think finally the lord vigneswarar
chose to keep this name for himself telling us, "do not worry about the meaning, is the
sound in heramba pleasing to the ears, is it not majestic like me, is it not suitable to call me
with that name, they just call me sodo not look at the dictionary."
Though he may not been living in heramba kingdom, the lord herambar is popular all over
India.
Beginning with the balaganapathi, the herambaganapathi also appears in the 16 ganapathi
statues. The name also comes in the 16 names that are looking at.

16.

Skandapoorvajar

We have come to the last name. Skandapoorvajam comes last in the 16 names. It means
that he is elder brother of subramanya. He is elder to him. More than that, it is nice to call
him, the one ahead of subramanya.
Poorvajar means the one born earlier. We also call Agrajar.
Like the Tamil word "udanpirappu" in Sanskrit we call "sahodarar"- to mention siblings -saha means "together" when we say sahodarar or udanpirappu we cannot find whether
elder or younger brother. Elder brother is known by the word agrajar.
Similar the young brother is known by the word anujar. Ramanujar means the younger
brother of Rama, or lakshmana. In the amara, subramanyar has a name gajamukaanujar.
Subramanya has a name as the younger brother of lord vigneswarar. So the lord
vigneswarar is also called as the elder brother of subramanyar. Such a brotherly feeling.

Jaya Jaya Shankara, Hara Hara Shankara!

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Hear Sri Maha Perivas discourse about Vinaayakar

Click on the below link to listen to Perivas discourse about Vinaayakar in His sweet voice,
while watching some nice images of Periva and Vinaayakar.

Youtube link: http://youtu.be/gW4P1nfEs_8

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Virtual darshan of Lord Ganesha

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Sri Vinayaka Chaturthi PoojaVidhanam

We have researched the internet for the best materials available for conducting Vinayaka
Chaturthi Pooja, and have shortlisted the below materials for your ready reference.
Documents download links:

Tamil document From Vedarahasya.net site

Tamil simple version of Vinayaka Chaturthi Puja

English document From Teluguone.com site

English document From hindusphere.com site

Sanskrit document (special focusfor NRIs)

Audio Links:

Listen to the Poojavidhanam procedure (Tamil)

Listen to Vinaayaka Mahatmiyam (Story) in Tamil

Listen to Vinaayakar Agaval by M S Subbulakshmi

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Sri Vinayaka Chaturthi Naivedyam - recipes

Sweet Kozhukattai/ Modakam
Kozhukattai is a favourite dish of Lord Ganesha. It is made with rice flour, coconut and jaggery
stuffing.
Preparing rice flour for making Kozhukattai
Here is the method for preparing rice flour for making Kozhukattai. The Kozhukattai will be hard if
you use store bought rice flour. It is advisable to either prepare it at home, or buy rice flour sold
specially for making kozhukattais.

Wash and soak raw rice for 2 hours.

Drain the water well, spread it on a cloth for 15 minutes and grind it to a fine powder. You
can give it to the rice mill or powder it in the mixie/food processor.
Dry it well in the sun or shade. Sieve it and store it in an air-tight container and use
whenever required.
Now rice flour for kozhukatti is ready. Note that you need not fry the rice flour.

Ingredients needed
Rice flour -1 cup
Jaggery - 1 cup
Coconut -1 cup grated
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
Ghee -1 tsp
Method
Heat 1 cup of water, add a tsp of oil to it and then add the prepared rice flour stirring
continuously so that it does not form lumps. Cook for 5 minutes.
Knead it into a soft dough.
Cover it with a wet cloth and keep it aside.
For the stuffing

Melt the jaggery in half a cup of water and filter to remove impurities.
Heat jaggery and when it starts boiling, add grated coconut and a tsp of ghee. Cook till it
leaves the sides of the pan. Add cardamom powder and mix well.
When it cools a little, make small balls out of it and keep it aside.
Now your jaggery balls (stuffing) are ready.

Preparation of Kozhukattai

Take the rice flour dough and make small balls. Grease your palms with oil, keep the dough
and flatten it into round shape with the other hand.
Mix little water with a tsp of oil and have it besides you. You can dip your fingers in the
water + oil mix if needed to make it easier. Now place the jaggery ball on it and close it.
Repeat the process for all the rice flour balls.

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Arrange all the prepared Kozhukattais on a greased idli plate and steam cook for ten
minutes or till done.
Wait for 10 minutes to cool down and then take it out.
Delicious Kozhukattais are ready.
You may get around 12-15 kozhukattais for this measurement.

UppuKozhukattai / Kara Kozhukattai

Ingredients needed for dough
Rice flour -1 cup
Water (approx)- 1 - 1 cup
Salt - a pinch
Sesame seed oil 1 tsp
Preparing rice flour for making Kozhukattai
Here is the method for preparing rice flour for making Kozhukattai. The Kozhukattai will be hard if
you use store bought rice flour. It is advisable to either prepare it at home, or buy rice flour sold
specially for making kozhukattais.

Wash and soak raw rice for 2 hours.

Drain the water well, spread it on a cloth for 15 minutes and grind it to a fine powder. You
can give it to the rice mill or powder it in the mixie/food processor.
Dry it well in the sun or shade. Sieve it and store it in an air-tight container and use
whenever required.
Now rice flour for kozhukatti is ready. Note that you need not fry the rice flour.

Method

Boil water with a pinch of salt and a tsp of oil,when it starts boiling, simmer and add the rice
flour stirring continuously so that it does not form lumps.

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Cook for 2 -3 minutes and switch off the flame. Since we are going to steam the Kozhukattai,
you do not have to cook fully.
Grease your hands with oil and knead the dough well when it is warm. Keep it covered with
a damp cloth for 10 minutes.

Ingredients needed for the stuffing

Urad dal - 1/2 cup
Green chilli - 4
Hing/asafoedida - a pinch
Salt as required
Method
Soak urad dal for 1 hour. Drain the water and grind it with chilli, hing and salt coarsely.
Steam it in an idly pan for 10-15 minutes.
After it cools, crumble it well. You can use the mixie for this-just whip it for a second.
Heat 2 tsp of oil, add mustard seeds, when mustard splutters, add curry leaves and the
steamed crumbled dal. Mix it well. Remove from flame.
The stuffing for UppuKozhukattai is ready now.
Method to make Kozhukattai

Now take the rice flour dough and make small lemon sized balls .Grease your palms with oil,
keep the ball and flatten it into round shape or a mini cup with the other hand. You can dip
your fingers in water + oil mix, if needed to make it easier.
Place a heaped tsp of stuffing and seal the edges.
Repeat the process for the rest of the dough and stuffing.
Arrange all the prepared Kozhukattais on a greased idli plate and steam cook for 10-15
minutes or till done.
Wait for 10 minutes to cool down and then take it out.
UppuKozhukattais are now ready.

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Chick peas/ Channa Sundal

Ingredients needed
Chick peas /channa-1 cup
Raw mango finely chopped or grated- 1/4 cup (optional)
Coconut - grated 1/4 cup
For the seasoning
Mustard - 1 tsp
Urad dal -1 1/2 tsp
Red chillies -2 broken into pieces
Hing/ asafoetida - 2 pinches
Curry leaves -little
Oil -2 tsp
Preparation

Soak chickpeas in water overnight.

Rinse well, add fresh water and pressure cook with required salt till soft.The
channa/chickpeas should be soft but not mushy.
Drain the excess water and keep aside.

Method
Heat oil in a pan/kadai, add mustard seeds when it splutters, add urad dal, red chillies, hing
and curry leaves. Fry till urad dal turns golden brown.
Add raw mango and saute for a few minutes.
Then add cooked channa, salt and grated coconut and give it a nice stir.
(add less salt as we have already added to the chick peas/channa while cooking)
Channa sundal is ready.

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Pasipparuppu / Moong dal Payasam

Ingredients
Lightly dry roasted split moong dal-1/2 cup
Jaggery ball-1 medium-Crush to smaller lumps
Milk(boiled cows milk or fresh coconut milk)-a large cup
Raw rice-a tbsp
Coconut gratings-1/4 cup
Salt-a fat pinch
Cardamom powder- to flavour
A few cashews roasted in a tbsp of ghee-to garnish
Method
Wash and soak raw rice in cold water for an hour.Drain and grind well with coconut in a
mixie, to a smooth paste, adding water.Keep aside.
In a pan, boil the jaggery lumps with cup of water.Melt down the lumps.Boil for a few
more minutes to attain honey consistency.Cool and filter impurities.Keep aside.
Boil 2 large cups of water in a heavy bottomed broad vessel.
Add roasted moong dal. Keep the flame medium to avoid boiling over, stirring in between.
When 3/4th cooked, stir in the jaggery syrup.
Let it boil well and after a few minutes stir in the rice and coconut paste. Stir continuously in
medium flame to avoid lumps and bring to a boil.
The payasam might have got thicker by now.Add salt.
Add milk to attain the right consistency and boil again stirring all the time.
Add cardamom powder and remove from fire.If you add coconut milk, add in the final stage
and let not the payasam boil too much.
Add even more milk if you like the diluted version as the payasam tends to get even thicker
once it cools down.
Garnish with roasted cashews along with its ghee.

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Sri Ashta Vinayak Darshan

ShriMayureshwar -Morgaon

ShriBallaleshwar - Pali

ShriGirijatmaj - Lenyadri

ShriMahaganapati - Ranjangaon

ShriSiddhivinayak - Siddhatek

ShriChintamani - Theur

ShriMayureshwar - Morgaon

ShriVighneshwar - Ozhar

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