ganesh chaturthi or vinayaka chavithi . why is it celebrated. what is the story behind it?

Answer :Ganesh Chaturthi, or Vinayaka Chaturti, is the birthday of Lord Ganesha, the God of wisdom, prosperity and auspiciousness. Ganesh Chaturthi 2011 date is September 1, Thursday. Ganesha is today worshipped around the world and the Elephant-faced Hindu god is one of the most popular deities associated with Hinduism. Like symbol ‘Om’, Ganesha is slowly becoming the face of Hindu religion. The Ganapati Festival ends with the immersion (Visarjan) of the idol on Ananta Chaturdasi day - September 11, 2011. Ganesh Chaturthi falls on the fourth day after new moon in the Hindu month of Bhadrapada (August - September). Ganesha is the remover of obstacle - Vighneshwara or Vignaraja – and is always invoked when Hindus are beginning a new enterprise. It is believed that Goddess Parvati created Ganesha out of clay and breathed life into him. Letting him stand guard at the door, Goddess Parvati went to have her bath. When her husband, Lord Shiva returned, the child who had never seen him stopped him. Ganesha did not allow Shiva to enter and finally an enraged Shiva severed the head of the child. Goddess Parvati returned to find her son dead and was distraught and asked Shiva to revive him. Shiva cut off the head of an elephant and fixed it on the body of Ganesha and giving birth to elephant-headed Ganesha.

Answer :Traditional stories tell that Lord Ganesha was created by goddess Parvati, consort of Lord Shiva. Parvati created Ganesha out of sandalwood paste that she used for her bath and breathed life into the figure. She then set him to stand guard at her door while she bathed. However, while she bathed, Lord Shiva returned and as Ganesha didn\'t know him, he didn\'t allow him to enter. Lord Shiva became enraged and severed the head of the child and entered his house. After realizing that he had beheaded his own son, Lord Shiva fixed the head of an elephant (in some versions, Airavata, the vehicle of the god Indra) in place of Ganesha\'s head. In this way, Lord Ganesha came to be depicted as the elephant-headed God.