चथा:Ganesh Chauthi

Chatha or Ganesh Chauthi is celebrated every year with great sense of humour and fun. It always falls on the forth day of the bright fortnight of Bhadra (August-September). Chatha or Chauthi literally means the forth day of lunar month. It is also observed as the auspicious birthday of Lord Ganesh.People believe that these who venture to look at the moon on this particular day are sure to get charged (even falsely) for some theft or the other. So they stay indoors, usually in the dark room, with all the doors and windows closed tight. There is a mythological story about the origin of this belief when Ganesh cursed the moon for his being rude to him. This occurred one day as Ganesh, seated on the back of the small rat, was on his way to a great council meeting of all the Hindus gods and goddesses. When the full moon god saw the elephant- headed Ganesh clumsily riding a poor tiny rat, he could not help laughing at him and making fun of him. The latter could not stand it any longer and cursed the moon god: "From now on you would have no more light of your own and also nobody would ever look at your face on my birthday. Those who dare to look at your face on this day are sure to turn into thieves."
The moon god became terribly sad for the blunder he had committed. So he went straight to shiva, the father of Ganesh, related his entire story and prayed for his good grace. Shiva moved by the plea, made an immidiate arrangement with his son to settle the dispute. According to it, the moon get was granted to have his full light back at least once a month. But the second part of the curse was never withdrawn.

So this dark aspect - the worshipping of  Chatha Deo, or the moon, as ' as the god of thieves', continues this day. According to an old traditional belief, those who want to be professional thieves should steal something on this day and offer it to Chatha Deo. It is also said that those who fail (in stealing) on this day will not succeed in this business for the whole year. As the age-old custom would have it, from early morning, small children go hunting around the fruit gardens of their pears, peaches, plums and so on which they pin up like medallions to their dresses. The childrens carry such fruits all day long and offer them to the thief god in the late evening.

However, it is not only the human beings but also the gods who take this curse seriosly. Even Bheemseana, one of the heroes of the Mahabharata, well known for the unusual adventures, super-human strength and bravery, is said to hide himself of the moon on this particular day lest he would be charged for theft. The custom of closing doors and windows of the temple of the Patan Bheemsena on this day is still in practice.
The religious texts say that the moon was born from the human mind. There is a very close affinity between the moon and the human mind as both are liable to rise and fall, and symbolize illusion, which gods always hate. In most illustrations of Lord Shiva we find the moon tucked in his matted hair. This stands for his divine wisdom ever controlling the otherwise restless mind. Moonless nights are generally compared to the completely controlled minds sans illusion. For the spiritual seekers, the moon, which appears in the sky only at night, is like a nightwalker, whose main job is to rob off the passers-by. Most probably, this is the reason why the moon of this particular day is associated with the theme of theft.

But Chatha is more momorable to the devotees of Ganesh who observed his birthday by worshipping him with the single-minded devotion, and also to seek his protection especially from the false allegations of the enemies. This have probably to do with this another very interesting puranic episode. It was said that the son got once gave a magnificent mani ( a ruby or celestial gem) as a gift to the Yadava who was his favourite devotee. When his enemies learnet of it, they immediately spread a rumour that he had stolen a pricious gem. This got Krishna upset because Yadava was his relative. So he went to Ganesh and prayed to him to acquit Yadava of this false charge. It must be remembered that Ganesh, in Hindu as well as in Buddhist community, is worshipped as the god of good luck and also as a great remover of obstacles.