Today is Ganesh Chaturthi, and all across the country, in pandals and apartment lobbies and on the back of every tempo carrying Ganapati home, one chant is rising: Ganapati Bappa Morya! I have shouted it my whole life. And this morning it struck me that I had no idea who, or what, Morya was. I suspect many of us don't.
It turns out Morya was a person. The story goes that Morya Gosavi was a devotee of Ganapati, and in one telling his family came from Bidar, on the Karnataka side of the border, before settling at Morgaon near Pune. He spent his life in Ganapati's service, first at Morgaon and later at Chinchwad, where his samādhi still draws devotees. The legend says Ganapati was so pleased with him that he granted a boon: the devotee's name would be joined to the god's, for as long as people call on him.
So every time we shout Morya, we are cheering for the god's greatest fan.
Fan is the right word, I think. I asked my son's classmate, who loves rock music, what you actually do when you love something.
"I listen to it more and more."
And then?
"I share it with my friends. You talk about it more. You try making music yourself. You become a fan of that album, that whole style."
That is Morya's story, almost to the letter. He understood how beautiful Ganesha is, and he couldn't keep it to himself. He listened more, shared more, spoke about him more, and made more of him everywhere he went. Centuries later a whole country still sings his chorus.
And what he found is worth sharing. Ganesha is benevolent. He is there to guide you and support you, and to open doors, which is why he is worshipped first, before any other deity in the cosmic ecosystem. And he is not difficult to please. A simple modak, made at home and offered with an honest heart, is enough. His doors open.
Then there is his form. An elephant's face on a human body is something every biology textbook would call impossible. Elephants have elephant bodies and humans have human bodies. Maybe that is exactly the message: here is the one thing we are sure cannot happen, sitting in front of us and smiling. With deep surrender, deep reverence, and trust in the universe, what we call impossible may simply be what we haven't yet trusted.
And once you start reading him that way, every part of him turns into a sentence. Take him slowly, from head to feet:
| Form | Life · spiritual reading |
|---|---|
| Elephant head | Wisdom, and the ability to see beyond the immediate |
| Large ears | Listen more than you speak |
| Small eyes | Concentration; seeing deeply rather than merely looking |
| Curved trunk | Strength with extraordinary sensitivity; adapt without losing power |
| One tusk | Hold on to what matters; let go of what doesn't |
| Large belly | The capacity to digest life's pleasant and unpleasant experiences |
| Four arms | Our capacity to act in the world while staying centred within |
| Modak | The sweetness discovered through disciplined inner work |
| Raised palm · abhaya | Don't be governed by fear |
| Feet grounded | Wisdom isn't an escape from ordinary life |
The belly carries a second reading too. In yoga, prāṇāyāma moves in three parts: pūraka, drawing the breath in; kumbhaka, holding it; and recaka, letting it go. Some say that great, rounded belly is kumbhaka made visible, the sign of a being who knows how to hold prāṇa and release it wisely. So he digests whatever life brings, and he breathes through it too.
Then there is the one I would give far more room than most pictures of Ganesha do: the small mouse, the mūṣaka, sitting at his feet and staring rather hopefully at the modak.
A mouse in the grain store is a menace. It can stand for the restless, acquisitive mind: tiny enough to get into every crack, always searching and nibbling, always wanting the next thing. Yet Ganesha doesn't kill the mouse.
He rides it.
The restless mind may not need destroying at all. It needs to become the vehicle rather than the driver. An enormous elephant-headed god whose vāhana is one of the smallest, most restless creatures there is: power sitting comfortably on desire.
The mouse carries one more lesson. Ganesha is luck, abundance and prosperity, the abundance he wants us to keep in our minds all the time. The mouse at his side says: don't lose sight of the small things. You can be abundant and spiritual, keep up your practice, and still notice what looks insignificant.
It is almost impossible to sit in front of Ganesha and not smile. He is such a joyful god. And I think what he is looking for is what any person in your life is looking for: simple honesty. Nothing complicated. For a devotee, or for someone you love, an honest and simple practice is enough to open the doors of the heart.
- The dhol, live from Lalbaug. If you can't magically be in Mumbai these days, this is the next best thing: a live darshan of Lalbaugcha Raja, crowd and drums included.
- Sukhakartā Dukhahartā. I was introduced to this Marathi aarti by our Surya, who is from Maharashtra. Here is Rahul Vaidya singing it. If you know Surya, ask him to sing it the next time you get together.
- Ekadantāya Vakratuṇḍāya. The evergreen classical one, made famous by Shankar Mahadevan: listen here.
- Deva Deva. And if you like something more upbeat, the youngsters have their own new-age sound: Hansraj Raghuwanshi's Deva Deva.
If you happen to pass through Mumbai this week, don't forget to ask someone local about Lalbaugcha Raja, the same Ganapati from the live stream above. The idol stands somewhere between 14 and 20 feet tall.
I don't know if I will ever get to meet you in a human body. Maybe I will see you in the spiritual world. But if I could meet you as a human, this is what I would say.
Thank you, Ganesha, for who you are. For all the beautiful sweets when I was young. For the smile that comes every time I see you. For making me curious about your tummy, and for your love of the mouse, a creature I hated as a kid (and, some days, still do). The yogic depth and psychology hidden inside you is just fascinating. Maybe this is how you want us to discover you: slowly, one feature at a time.
Can I say a big thank you, for who you are and for bringing so much joy to millions around the world?
And thank you, Morya ji, for doing your part.
So today, when the chant rises, I'll be shouting for Morya too, the fan who loved so well that the god kept his name. Enjoy the festive days with your friends and family. And somewhere between the modaks, I'll be asking myself one thing: what do I love enough to become its Morya?
गणपती बाप्पा मोरया! मंगलमूर्ती मोरया! 🙏
Ganapati Bappa, Morya! The auspicious one, Morya!