Jai Ganesha!

"Happy Ganesh Chathurthi" wished Tanmay to his parents and got dressed in traditional attire. He went shopping and brought all the items required to worship Lord Ganesha. Flowers and Fruits were bought in advance by his mother.

Tanmay arranged the items pretty well and decorated the mandap for Lord Ganesha's arrival. Sitting in front of the mandap and chanting Ganesha's name, Tanmay took help from his father and made Ganesha's idol out of pure clay.

After placing the betel leaf on the new white cotton golden bordered cloth, he placed the idol on it. Palavelli stand was on top of Lord Ganesha's idol that was the heart of the mandap. He hung the custard apple, wood apple, guava and fig on the four corners of Palavelli stand being extra cautious. Placing a small banana plant on either side of Amanda, he peeled half of the husk on the maize and placed them in the glasses on both sides. His father bought a special umbrella for Lord Ganesha's idol. 

Following the rituals, they completed the puja successfully and offered modak 21 in number as prasad. Tanmay also offered laddoos to his favourite God and prayed well. Doing eleven sit-ups, he chanted "OM GANESHAYA NAMAH" with a smile.

"Ganesha admires the one who does sit-ups in front of him. Lord Vishnu started this ritual when Ganesha accidentally ate his Shankha and Chakra. As he performed sit-ups, Ganesha got pleased and laughed. Shankha and Chakra came out from his mouth" his mother Anu shared the mythological facts.

"Also, doing sit-ups by holding your ears activates nerves and helps to energise the brain. It also helps to improve concentration and memory power" Arul said the scientific reason with a broad smile.

The day passed on a happy note. 

After two days...

"Mom! Please, I beg you!" cried five years old Tanmay becoming teary-eyed.

"Dear! Please understand. We can't keep the Ganesha idol at home forever. We have to follow the tradition and immerse in holy water" consoled Anu.

"Mom! Please" cried Tanmay, hugging Clay Ganesha idol dearly.

Anu signalled Arul to convince their son to immerse the Ganesha idol in the holy water. Arul nodded his head in agreement and approached Tanmay patting his shoulder.

"Tanmay! I know you had put a lot of effort to prepare the Ganesha idol out of clay mould. But now he wants to go back to his parents, dear. Even you don't want to separate him from his parents, right?" Arul planted a thought in his little mind.

After thinking for a couple of moments, Tanmay asked "When will he return to meet us again?" fixing his eyes on Ganesha idol.

"Next year to celebrate his birthday with us. This is what we also do right! We call your friends every year on your birthday to celebrate and then they return to their respective homes after the celebration. Uniquely, Ganesha goes to everyone's home and celebrate his birthday with all of them and then return to his home every year. He must be happily sent back so that he can remember beautiful memories and happy moments he spent with us or else he will become sad" Arul said convincingly with a closed-lip smile.

"Hmmm. Okay, dad! I want Ganesha to remember my smile rather than my sad face" Tanmay chuckled.

"That's like my boy!" he appreciated and slowly held Tanmay's hand and signalled him to immerse the idol in holy water filled in the bucket.

Yelling "Jai Ganesha!" slowly both of them immersed and retreated their hands. For two consecutive days, Tanmay looked at the bucket and slowly the idol submerged into water.

After a week...

"Idol is gone. Only clay is remaining" said Tanmay, feeling surprisingly shocked.

"Yes! Ganesha returned home. He left the clay and water behind to help us nourish plants at our home. He made it re-usable and replenished his special power in it" Arul said, silently praying to Ganesha.

"Oh okay. Can I water the plants?" he said, eagerly waiting for the results.

After two weeks, the plants prospered well and started bearing good quality fruits. Flowering plants blossomed more than the expectation. Tanmay who observed these positive changes thanked Lord Ganesha for his miracles.

***********

The End.