Ganesh Chaturthi, the birthday of Lord Ganesha is celebrated on the chaturthi, ie., the fourth day of the month of Bhadrapada (August-September). Lord Ganesha, the elephant faced benevolent deity is worshipped widely in India from the Vedic times. He is the first saluted among gods and he is the repository of wisdom, intelligence and auspiciousness. All good qualities are attributed to him. He is the leader of the Ganas - the five senses, the five elements and the five sheaths of the human body, namely, Annamaya Kosha (the food sheath), Pranamaya Kosha (the life sheath), Manomaya Kosha (the mental sheath), Vijnanamaya Kosha (the wisdom sheath) and Anandamaya Kosha (the bliss sheath). Hence he also has the appellations of Ganapathi (head of the ganas) and Vinayaka (without a leader, as he himself is the leader). Since Ganapathi is the adhipati (master) of all the koshas or sheaths one has to propitiate him to reach the anandamaya kosha (the bliss sheath) as man normally progresses (in his sadhana) only upto the manomaya kosha (mental sheath).

Lord Ganapathi has many names and many attributes. His extraordinarily heavy body has the shape of OM (in Sanskrit) and hence he is Pranavakara (having the shape of Pranava) and is worshipped as Pranavaswarupa. As such, great auspiciousness is attributed to his very appearance. He is also described as 'Aprameya' ie., transcendent and all-encompassing. Since he loves an uncared for small white flower called 'Thummi' and a kind of grass, signifying his love and concern for the lowly and the trivial, he is called Arkadronpriya.

The name Ganapathi is coined combining three syllables, ie., Ga + Na + Pathi. Ga stands for Guna or Virtue, Na for Vijnana or Wisdom and Pathi for master. When Vijnana (worldly or scientific wisdom) and Prajnana (spiritual wisdom) combine it results in Sujnana (Supreme Knowledge), says Bhagawan Baba.

As the story goes, when Sage Veda Vyasa wanted to dictate the Mahabharata, widely acclaimed as the fifth Veda, non-stop, the only one that came forward to take up that challenging job was Lord Ganesha. And when his pen broke because of the incessant writing, he unhesitatingly broke one of his tusks and continued the writing, signifying his high sense of sacrifice - a lesson for all. Thus Lord Ganesha came to be known as Ekadanta (the single tusked).

Lord Ganesha is also known as Lambodara (the guardian of all types of wealth). He is also popular as Vigneshwara as he removes all obstacles that come in the way of his devotees and confers peace and happiness. As the presiding deity of intelligence he bestows purity of intellect and power of discrimination to his devotees. In fact the 'ganas' over whom he presides are the ten indriyas (the five organs of action and the five of perception). The ten-day Vinayaka Chaturthi Celebration denotes the efforts of devotees to achieve mastery over the indriyas (organs) one each a day.

There is a story revealing his supreme intelligence that had earned him the position of primacy among the deities from none other than Lord Shiva, his father. Once Ganapathi and his brother Subrahmanya were summoned by their parents, Devi Parvathi and Lord Parameshwara to test their intelligence and were asked to go round the worlds in the quickest time possible. The elder son, Ganapathi did not move. The younger one, Subrahmanya, mounted his vehicle, the peacock, took a quick round and was about to return to the starting point. Seeing him approaching, Ganapathi circumambulated his parents and claimed to be the winner. When he was questioned by his mother how he could be the winner when he did not move out of that place, Ganapathi coolly replied that, circumambulation of his parents, who were verily the parents of the Cosmos and whose existence was all-pervading (omnipresence) was equivalent to his going around all the worlds. Impressed by his reply, Lord Shiva appreciated his superior intelligence and granted the boon that he be worshipped first anywhere at any time even before offering worship to himself.

Ganapathi is the embodiment of all potencies, the abode of every mind of intelligence. As presiding deity of all auspicious functions he is the bestower of Buddhi (intellect) and Siddhi (fulfilment).