Wednesday 29 June 2011

How Lord Ganesh Foils Ravana, The King Of Lanka’s Plans

In our series of Legends Of Lord Ganesh, we have another interesting story for all the devotees.
Ravana was the demon king of Lanka and an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. (His tales can be read in the epic of Ramayana) He went to Mount Kailash to seek Lord Shiva’s blessings and requested a boon, that his kingdom should never get destroyed.
“Go on foot to Lanka with this Atma Linga. But remember, you cannot put this on the ground. If you do so, it will remain there,” said Lord Shiva.
Ravana was very pleased with this blessing and started his journey, carefully carrying the sacred linga. All the gods were worried that if Ravana succeeded in this task, then no one would be able to fight his demonic power. They all implored Lord Ganesh to find an answer.
Our Lord decided to fill Ravana’s stomach with water and the demon king was desperate to relieve himself. Lord Ganesh appeared in front of the demon king as a small boy. Ravana asked him to hold the Linga for a while and not to keep it on the ground. But the boy said that if he grew tired, he would call out his name three times and then he would keep it on the ground. Ravana agreed.
Lord Ganesh was soon tired and called out to Ravana. But the water in Ravana’s stomach was endless. In the end, the boy placed the linga on the ground. When Ravana returned, he was furious. The mighty hands of the demon changed the form of the linga but he still could not lift it. This linga is known as Mahabaleshwarar. Ravana chased the boy to hit him on his head. Then Ganesh changed to His true form.
At this temple, along with the linga, there is an idol of Ganesh with a hollow head. It is said that Ravana had hit the Lord. Devotees are known to gently tap with their knuckles on the temples of the deity and this is said to please Lord Ganesh.
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Another version of this legend states that at sunset, Ravana had reached the west coast on foot. It was time for Ravana’s Sandhya Vandana (Evening Prayers) and he did not know what he should do. Lord Ganesh was following him and appeared as a young boy to help him out. He asked the boy to hold the linga. The boy agreed but he said that if he found it heavy, he would put it down.
Ravana said that he cannot place it on the ground and he assured him that he would be back soon. Quickly, Ravana started his prayers and the boy called out that the linga was getting heavy. The demon king could not get up in the middle of his prayers. The boy cried out again that it was impossible for him to hold on anymore. Somehow, Ravana managed to finish his worship but it was too late. The boy had put Lord Shiva’s symbol on the ground. No matter how hard he tried, the linga would not budge.
Thus Lord Ganesh was able to curb Ravana’s unlimted power and put the gods fear at rest

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