🙏🏻 Ganpati bappa morya 🙏🏻 🌺 { Ganesh Chaturthi Special } 🌺

💮🌺💐🌸Gauri Ganpati 🌸💐💮💮

Apart from welcoming Ganpati Bappa, most households in Maharashtra also gear up for Gauri Pujan where they install the idol of Goddess Gauri, mother of Lord Ganesha and worship her along with Bappa. Goddess Parvati also called as Gauri there are so many other names are also there for ma ( mother ) Parvati and one of them is Gauri. The Goddess Gauri is also worshipped as Goddess Mahalaxmi. Gauri Pujan, which is an important festival for Hindu women and especially for women from the Marathi community, falls on the fourth or the fifth day of Ganesh Chathurthi every year.
The festival is also called Jyeshtha Gauri Pujan.  The festival is observed by both married and unmarried women. While the married ones observe the Mangala Gauri Vrat for good health and long life of their husbands, the unmarried ones observe this fast in the hope of getting an ideal husband. And as per ancient Hindu scriptures, Goddess Sita had performed Gauri pujan to get Lord Rama.

According to a mythical tale, in ancient times when asuras used to harass people, married women prayed to Maa Gauri to save their husbands and families from the wrath of asuras. As per the story, the day when married ladies approached Mata( mother ) Gauri for help, that day was Shudha Paksha Asthami of Bhadrapad month.

On the day of Gauri Pujan, after the muhurat of Gauri Avahan (beckoning of Goddess Gauri) begins, Gauri Mukhavta (Face of Gauri) or idol of Gauri is welcomed with fervour. At some households, the Gauri comes in pairs, depending on tradition. The idols are then dressed up in sarees, like a new bride. They are then adorned by traditional Maharashtrian jewellery. Devotees then offer naivaidya to holy Goddess. They conduct a small pujan inside the temple and offer even a new sari to the idol of Goddess Gauri.

To attain happiness and prosperity, devotees worship the divine goddess. It is believed that pleasing the Goddess improves the husband-wife relationship, increase wealth and brings overall happiness in the lives of devotees.

This festival celebrates the goddess Gowri or Gauri, (also known as Parvati) who is venerated as the mother of Ganesha. It is usually observed by married women and is a significant festival in Karnataka. It is known as Hartalika in the North Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Gowri, the mother of Ganesha and wife of Shiva, is worshipped throughout India for her ability to bestow upon her devotees courage and power. Hindu belief has it that Gowri is the incarnation of Aadhi Shakthi Mahamaya. She is the Shakthi of Shiva. It is believed that on Thadige, or the third day of the month of Bhaadra, Gowri comes home like any married woman comes to her parents' house. The next day Ganesha, her son, comes as if to take her back to Kailasa.

The Swarna Gowri vratha is performed on the occasion to appease the goddess.

Swarna Gowri vratha rituals :

  On this day, married women, after bathing, wear new or smart clothes and dress up the girls of the family. Then they do the 'sthapana' of either jalagauri or arishinadagauri (a symbolic idol of Gowri made of turmeric). Painted and decorated clay idols of Gowri can be bought at the local market. The goddess' idol is mounted in a plate, with a cereal (rice or wheat) in it. As this puja or ritual is to be performed with 'suchi' (cleanliness) and 'shraddhe' (dedication), the women go to temples or to another person's house, where it is performed according to set procedures or they can perform the ritual in their own homes.

A mantapa, generally decorated with banana stem and mango leaves, is built around the idol. The Gowri is decorated with garlands, decorations made of cotton, and women have a 'gauridaara' (sacred thread with sixteen knots) tied to their right wrists, as blessings of gauri and as part of the vratha. Each of the sixteen knots is worshipped with mantras during the performance of the religious practice.

An offering of baagina occurs during the festival. At least five baaginas are prepared as part of the vratha. Each baagina usually contains a packet of arshina (turmeric), kumkum, black bangles, black beads (used in the mangalsutra), a comb, a small mirror, baLe bicchoLe, coconut, blouse piece, dhaanya (cereal), rice, toor dal, green dal, wheat or rava and jaggery cut in a cube form. The baagina is offered in a traditional mora (winnow painted with turmeric). One such baagina is offered to Gowri and set aside. The remaining Gowri baaginas are given to the married women.

Gauri habbada mangaladravya :

Another speciality of this festival is that the married woman's parents and brothers (tavaru maneyavaru) send all items required for worship   (mangaladravya) to the married daughters of their family. Some send money as a substitute for mangaladravya. This good practice remains unchanged and keeps people closer. Newly-married women give sixteen pairs (jothe) baagina to married women (Sumangalis) and obtain their blessings. One baagina is kept for the Goddess Gowri (Gowramma).

  Newlywed couples are invited to the house of their in-laws and served with festive food. In the olden days, newly-wed couples had to wait till Gowri Habba to consummate their marriage. The logic behind this practice is that if a child is conceived during Gowri Habba, which falls during the winter, the child would be born nine months later, during the summer, when it would be less prone to infections. This practice has been in place for years but has declined in recent times due to modernisation and wide contraceptive options.

Unmarried girls (kanya) in the house also wear a gauridaara, but it doesn't have knots, just 16 strand cotton thread dipped in turmeric and a yellow chrysanthemum looped in it. These girls must give a variant of baagina to their own sisters, (and optionally to cousins whose mothers perform the Vratha). This children's baagina consists of the decorative ornamental items (metal plastic or glass bangles, metal earrings, wearable necklace, in addition to comb, mirror, biccholay) the food items are omitted. This is given along with kumkuma (vermilion), betel leaf, betel nut, and fruit (small fruit other than coconut), and dakshine in small amount (gift money).