In fact, the Chaturthi of every month is dedicated to Lord Ganesha. But the Chaturthi of Shukla Paksha in the month of Bhadrapada is considered very special. It is believed that Ganapati was born on this Chaturthi. On this occasion people bring Ganpati at home for 5, 7 or 10 days. This festival of Ganesh Chaturthi starts from Chaturthi Tithi of Shukla Paksha of Bhadrapada month and continues till Anant Chaturdashi. Especially this festival is celebrated with great pomp in Maharashtra. During this, devotees establish Bappa in their house and worship him according to the law. Along with this, different types of bhog are also offered to them, so that Ganpati destroys all their sorrows and blesses them with a happy life. In such a situation, the devotees try that the Prasad should be Bappa’s favorite.
Now everyone knows how much Bappa loves modaks. Lord Ganesha may also like modak because it pleases the mind. According to the scriptures, Ganapati ji is considered to be a deity who is always happy and if you look at the word modak, it means happiness. But very few people would know that after all, why only Modak is dear to Ganpati and what is the belief behind it, let’s know about it.
Why lord Ganesha likes Modak
It is believed that modak is very dear to Lord Ganesha. Well, there are many popular stories and legends behind it. According to a legend, once Lord Shiva was sleeping and Lord Ganesha was guarding the gate. When Parashuram reached there, Ganesh ji stopped Parashuram. Parashurama got angry on this and started fighting with Ganesha. When Parashurama started getting defeated, he attacked Ganesh ji with the parashu given by Shiva. Due to this, one of the teeth of Ganesh ji was broken. Due to broken teeth, he suffered a lot and started having trouble eating and drinking. Then modaks were prepared for them as modaks are very soft. Eating modak filled his stomach and he was very happy. Since then modak has become the favorite dish of Ganpati. It is believed that whoever offers him modak, Ganapati is very pleased with him.
The second story is that once Parvati ji made special (laddus) modaks and told her two sons Kartikeya and Ganesh ji that whoever shows his knowledge, intelligence and power, he will be the rightful owner of these modaks. In such a situation, to prove his superiority, Kartikeya set out to circumambulate the entire universe, while Ganesh ji made a circumambulation of his parents Shiva-Parvati and argued that for him his parents are the whole world. In such a situation, Shiva and mother Parvati were very happy with this logic of Ganesha and blessed them to be the most adept in knowledge, science and art in the three worlds. Along with this, the modak made by Goddess Parvati also belonged to Ganesh ji and since then modak has been included in his favorite bhog.
