Lord Ganesha, the Hindu elephant-faced deity, the Remover of Obstacles is a sweet lover.
Most statues of Ganesha show him holding sweets in his third hand. Devotees express their love and devotion for Lord Ganesha by offering him sweets, usually ladoos or modaks. The biggest annual festival for Ganesha devotees - the 10-day Ganesha Chaturthi, his birthday is celebrated with sweets galore.
Here are some Lord Ganesha sweet stories from Hindu mythology.
Why do Lord Ganesha love ladoos?
Ladoos are sweet balls made by hand rolling jaggery syrup saturated, deep fried beads of besan (brown chickpea) flour batter.
According to Hindu mythology, Lord Ganesha broke his tusk while fighting Lord Parshuram, the sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu.
Lord Ganesha's father, Lord Shiva was meditating and instructed his son to turn away anyone who came to see him. When Lord Ganesha turned Parshuram away, the latter flew into a rage and threw his holy axe at Lord Ganesha.
The holy axe was a gift to Parshuram from Lord Shiva. Out of respect for his father, Lord Ganesha did not duck the holy axe, allowing it to break his tusk.
As Lord Ganesha couldn't eat with his broken tusk, he ate melt-in-the-mouth ladoo.
Lord Ganesha love these ladoos, so it became a custom to serve him these sweet balls during festivals and when seeking his blessings.
Then, what about Lord Ganesha's favourite sweet, modak?
According to Hindu mythology, Lord Ganesha's dotting grandmother, Queen Meenavati would make ladoos for her grandson. But, the growing Lord Ganesha can never have enough of ladoos which is difficult to prepare. Queen Meenavati came up with modaks which are not as tedious to make as ladoos. It turned out that Lord Ganesha loves modaks even more.
In another legend, demigods gifted Goddess Parvati a modak which would make whoever ate it extraordinarily wise and intelligent. Parvati wanted both her sons Karthik and Ganesha to share the modak but they refused to share.
In order to decide who would eat the only modak, Parvati set up a competition. The modak would go to the son who first circle the world three times.
Karthik immediately flew off riding his peacock to encircle the world 🌎 Ganesha instead went three rounds around his parents, declaring that they meant the world to him.
Parvati impressed with Ganesha's wisdom, gifted the modak to him. Since then, the modak is always identified with Lord Ganesha.
Lord Ganesha love modak so much that he is nicknamed Modakpriya which means "the one who loves modaks".
Why offer Lord Ganesha 21 modaks?
In another version, Anusuya wanted to served Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati after Lord Ganesha is satiated. Lord Ganesha ate a lot of food but didn't seem to have enough 😀 But, after eating one of Anusuya's modaks, Ganesha let off a loud burp indicating that he is finally full. Lord Shiva who hasn't eaten anything yet, also burped 21 times 🤔 To this, Goddess Parvati declared that offerings for Lord Ganesha shall consist of 21 modaks 😀
Whether ladoos or modaks, what is more important is one's attitude when making the offering to Lord Ganesha.
Once, the god of wealth Lord Kubera wanted to show off his great wealth by inviting Lord Shiva to his opulent house. Lord Shiva declined but sent Lord Ganesha to represent him.
God of wealth laid out a great banquet to impress Lord Ganesha. Lord Ganesha ate and ate but couldn't be satisfied. He kept on asking for more food. When the food ran out in the house, Lord Ganesha started to eat the furniture, curtains, chandeliers, everything in sight.
Desperate, god of wealth pleaded with Lord Shiva for help. Lord Shiva told god of wealth, to just give Lord Ganesha some simple puffed rice but offer it sincerely with love and humility. God of wealth followed Lord Shiva's advice and Lord Ganesha was immediately satisfied 😌
When Hinduism (and Buddhism) spread from India to Southeast Asia and East Asia from the 1st century, Ganesha worship followed. Everywhere he went, sweets were made and offered to Lord Ganesha. I am on a journey to trace the footprints of Lord Ganesha and the foodprints of his sweets.
The sweets of Lord Ganesha across Asia are tangible and intangible links uniting us through our common thousand year shared food heritage.
In conclusion, there are many more myths regarding Lord Ganesha's love for sweets. There are even more variations. But, the most important of all in making offerings to Lord Ganesha is the right attitude - be humble and sincere in approaching Lord Ganesha.
Written by Tony Boey on 3 Oct 2023
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