Why is Lord Ganesha worshipped first?

Birth of Lord Ganesha

To understand why Lord Ganesha is worshipped at the start of every pooja and before the start of any new initiatives, we need to understand the symbolism behind Lord Ganesha.

The story of Ganesha’s birth is well-known. Ganesha was born out of the collection of dirt from Parvati’s body. ‘Parvati’ is the high energy of a celebration or festival, and there is always some aspect of negativity in this high energy. This is symbolized by the dirt. When this body of dirt encountered the ‘Shiva element’, the ‘Advait Tatva’, its head, that is ego, fell apart and was then replaced by the head of an elephant. 

Lord Shiva’s blessing

Ganesha was blessed by Lord Shiva himself that he would be worshipped at the outstart of any auspicious occasion or puja. 

Lord Ganesha has an elephant head. An elephant represents both gyan shakti and karma shakti. The principal qualities of the elephant are wisdom and effortlessness. The enormous head of the elephant signifies wisdom and knowledge. Elephants don’t walk around obstacles; neither are they stopped by them. They just remove them and walk ahead – signifying effortlessness. So, when we worship Lord Ganesha, these qualities within us are kindled, and we take on these qualities. 

Thus, before we start any pooja, we invoke Lord Ganesha, meaning we have to awaken Lord Ganesha’s element in our soul. This will help us to move from negativity towards positivity. We make an idol of Ganapathi out of clay and appeal to Him that the same life that exists within us, which is the Lord himself, should reside in the idol for a short time so that we can play with Him. 

Fruit of worship

So when we worship Him, all the good qualities blossom in us. He is also the Lord of knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge dawns only when we become aware of the Self. When there is inertia, there is no knowledge, no wisdom, nor is there any liveliness (Chaitanya) or progress in life. So the consciousness has to be awakened, and the presiding deity of consciousness is Ganesha. That’s why before every puja, the Lord Ganesha is worshipped to awaken the consciousness. 

Therefore, install the idol, worship it with infinite love, meditate and experience Lord Ganesha from within. This is the symbolic essence of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, to awaken the Ganesh tattva, which is masked inside us.

To read more about all the secrets behind the symbols of Lord Ganesha, click here.

Embrace the symbolism of Lord Ganesha and let wisdom guide your path as you navigate the journey of life with awareness and grace. Click here to begin your journey to happiness.