sri ganesha caturthi festival in bhadrapada maasa its science and ecological value

7/30/2019 Sri ganesha caturthi Festival in Bhadrapada maasa its Science and Ecological Value

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|| ರೀ ಗಣೀಶಾಯ ನಮಃ || ॐ || ी गणशेाय नमः ||

ी गणशे मदम ®् ना. ासागः (णः)

Sri ganesha caturthi Festival in Bhadrapada maasa its

Science and Ecological Value

We all know the science behind Lord Ganesha, and his message, the Large head and ears tells

us to Listen carefully think and act. Small but sharp eyes are indications of focus, his broken

Tusk, signifies the usage of available tools within and around oneself. The trunk shows

flexibility and access to objects around. Having Snake and rat – natural enemies - signifies

living in biodiversity, his large stomach gives not only his capabilities to digest any food but

also any bitterness around him and one can say on.

The ganapathi vratha as per shastras and puraanas state that the god should be made of either

Gold, Silver, or Raw earth (Clay) or even Turmeric, As all the devotees might not be able to

afford for Gold or Silver, Raw earth – with water forming Clay is used the most.

The festival is scheduled to commence right after the heavy downpours from the sky that

pushes lot of silt onto the water bodies, and would also carry many microbial disease causing

organisms on to it. Until the Festival is complete, as per bharatiya shastras, taking bath in the

Flowing water bodies are not advised: reasons for this are because of the erosion, and the

force of the water. In order to clean the water bodies, there should be a mechanism of

inducing natural substances that could clear the bacteria and make the water edible for both

all living beings. To the ancient bharatiyas the sages were also great thinkers and scientists

who could help in solving multiple such environmental problems.

Hence the Gold and Silver ganesha idols were replaced by Turmeric and clay. Turmeric by

itself is medicinal, clay also has its own medicinal values, however both have property of

mixing in water also help in cleaning the water by absorbing or removing certain microbes.

Getting large amount of Turmeric and clay, to the river bodies had been a difficult task and

also there they wanted a better solution where the water shall be set edible and would not

cause diseases to the living beings, hence the sages devised the birthday of lord ganesha as a

day of festivity also a day of environmental cleaning. Praying god for the welfare of all living

beings has been a tradition on the sanatana dharma, and vedas are chanted for the welfare of

not only humans but also the animals and plants and other organisms on Earth.

Keeping this into consideration and also ensuring the lord ganesha is pleased, the sagesdevised the best water purifying plants, and the ones that were most liked by lord ganesha as





well, this came for the initiative for the 21 leaves that are used to pray the lord. Hence, the

ganesha patra puja became a very important step in the celebrations of bhadrapada shuddha

caturthi ganesha pooja. This is called as ‘Ekavimshati patra pUja’ in Samskrita. For each leaf,

there is a corresponding name used for worshipping the lord, which have been considered

giving eternal power to the leaves as well. Not just the leaves, the lord is praised with the pray from barks and other parts of the 21 trees as well. However, it has been mentioned that

the tree should be doubled before taking benefits from it, which means that should be a

sampling of the tree which should be planted so that the balance in the ecology is not

disturbed.

Science and Ecology value in actual form of the festival:

All the 21 plants are medicinal, they still have their usage in various Ayurveda as well as

modern medicines. Raw-earth or clay or Turmeric have properties to absorb the extracts of

the plant parts over a period of time. The ganesha festival was earlier not held for just a day

or two it was held for over a period of 10 to 15 days and only starting from bhadrapada

shuddha caturthi. The leaves offered to lord made of clay or turmeric would have absorbed

the essential medicinal extracts from the leaves by this period. The raw-clay is removed from

lakes and ponds – which acts as a medium of cleaning them, later in the form of lord ganesha,

and mixed with cleaning materials it is immersed in river water – again to cleanse the water

and purify it for edibility. As people believed more in God, it was made in his name on the

occasion to mark birth from his mother – goddess parvati (also known as prakruti ‘nature’ as

shiva is known as purusha ‘sole of nature’)

Please note: the usage of colors for the ganesha vigraha is not advised in shastras, the God’s

idol should be made only with raw clay, or turmeric however, one could use bhasma,

turmeric or kunkum, and extracts from the leaves of the 21 plants to color the idol.





Samskrita and botanical names of the 21 Types of Leaves for Ganesh Ekavimsathi patra Puja

22 to 25 are mentioned for Patra puja in Bhavishya Purana,

Number Samskrita naama English transliteration Scientific name

1 माची पम ् Machi Patra Artemisia vulgaris

2 ब हृती पम ् Bruhathi Patra Solanum indicum

3 ब पम ् Bilva Patra Aegle marmeolus

4 ूव पम ् Durva Patra Cyanodon dactylon

5 कनक पम ् Kanaka Patra Datura metal

6 ब पम ् Badari Patra Zizipus jujube

7 अपामागव पम ् Apamarga Patra Achyranthus aspera

8 त लुसी पम ् Tulasi Patra Ocimum sanctum

9 च तूपम ् Chootha Patra Mangifera indica

10 की पम ् Karaveera Patra Nerium indicum

11 षण ुादत पम ् Vishnu krantha Patra Convolvulus pluricaucis

12 ािडम पम ् Daadimi Patra Punica granatum

13 ेा पम ् Devdar Patra Cedrus deodar

14 मक पम ् Maruvaka Patra Origanum majoram

15 सदध ु पम ् Sindhuvara Patra Vitex nirgundo

16 संयाप ुषपन ् पम ् Sandhya pushpin Patra Jasminum grandiflorum

17 गदल पम ् Gandali Patra Latha Durva

18 शमी पम ् Shami Patra Prosopis specigera

19 अात पम ् Ashwatha Patra Ficus religiosa

20 अर ु वन पम ् Arjuna Patra Terminelia Arjuna

21 अकव पम ् Arka Patra Calotropis Procera

22 ब ङृगार पम ् Brungaraja Patra Eclipta alba

23 माल पम ् Mala Patra

24 केतकपम ् Ketaki Patra Pandanus Odoratissimus

25 अगय पम ् Agasthya Patra Sesbania grandifolia





Images of the 21 leaves

Artemesia vulgaris – Machipathri or Maachi Patram

Solanum xanthocarpum –

Bruhati Patram, Vakudu





Aegle marmelos – Bilva Patra, Bell leaves Tree

Cynodon dactylon –

Durva grass, Grass blades





Datura metel – Datura Patram, Ummetha Tree

Zizyphus jujuba – Badari Patram, Gooseberry Tree





Achyranthus aspera – Apamarga Patram, Utthreni

Ocimum sanctum, Tulsi leaves, Holy Basil Tree





Mangifera indica, Mango leaves, Chutha Patram

Nerium odorum – Karavira patram





Evolvulus alsinoides – Vishnukrantha patram

Punica granatum, Dadimi Patram, Pomegranate





Erythroxylum monogynum – Devadaru Patram

Majorana hortensis – Maruvaka patram, Maruvam





Vitex negundo, Sindhuvaara patram, Vavili Tree

Jasminum auriculatum – Jaaji Patram





Bauhinia variegata – Gandaki Patram, Devakanchana

Prosopis cineraria – Shami Patram, Jammi, Banni





Ficus religiosa – Ashwattha Patram, Raavi Tree

Terminalia arjuna –

Arjuna Patram, White Maddhi Tree





Calotropis procera –, Jilledu Tree – should be of white flower

Let us celebrate the festivals more eco-friendly as how it

has been stated in the shastras and was celebrated earlier!

स ापवणमत ु

ॐ शादतः शादतः शादतः ||

sri ganesha caturthi festival in bhadrapada maasa its science and ecological value

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