Uttarakhand, the birthplace of Lord Ganesha

In Treta Yuga, Ganapati was born from the womb of Uma on the day of Bhadrapad Shukla Chaturthi and was named Gunesh. According to mythological tales, it is believed that Lord Ganesha was born in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand state. Swami Tapovan, who was the guru of Swami Chidmayanand, has also written about Dodital being the birthplace of Ganesha in his book Himgiri Vihar, citing Mudgal Purana written by Mudgal Rishi. Situated in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand at an altitude of 3,310 meters above sea level, Dodital is a charming lake surrounded by beautiful mountains. The temple located near this lake is considered to be the birthplace of Lord Ganesha. According to the Hindu calendar, Ganesh Jayanti is celebrated every year on the Chaturthi Tithi of the Shukla Paksha of Magh month. It is also called Ganesh Chaturthi, Magh Vinayak Chaturthi, and Varad Chaturthi. On this day, Lord Shiva and Mother Parvati’s son Ganesha are worshipped. In Dodital itself, Mother Parvati created Lord Ganesha from her paste to protect the door before taking a bath. Along with Gajanan, his mother Parvati is also seated in Dodital. Dodital is a hexagonal lake spread over an area of ​​one to one and a half km. To date, no one has been able to estimate its depth. Many scientists and forest department officials tried to measure the depth of the lake but were unsuccessful. Even today, the depth of this lake remains a mystery. There is an ancient temple of Mother Annapurna here, where Ganeshji is seated with his mother. Dodital, which is a large lake in the middle of a Bugyal, is where Ganesha was born. It is also said that Kelsu, which is a Patti (a group of villages in the mountains known as Patti) was originally named Kailashu. Local people call it Shiva’s Kailash. Kelsu area is formed by combining seven villages of the Asi Ganga river valley. Although Mount Kailash is hundreds of miles away from here, but the local people believe that once upon a time Mother Parvati was at Vihar here and then Ganeshji was born.

Article written by and Editorial credit: State Bureau Chief Himanshu Nauriyal.