How Lord Ganesha Acquired THE SOUL OF LORD SHIVA

Lord Ganesh Holding The Shiva Linga

               Today we all are celebrating the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, birth of Lord Ganesh. So I have decided to share with you some of the mythical stories about Lord Ganesha, specifically the story of how Ganesh acquired the Atma Linga (Soul of Lord Shiva). But first of all we have to know how Lord Ganesh came to life.

The Story Of The Birth Of Lord Ganesh

Lord Ganesh with Shiva And Parvati

            The history of birth of Lord Ganesh is to be found in the later Purānas which were composed from 600 CE onwards. The Puranic myths relate Lord Ganesh's birth with several different stories. But the most well known story of Lord Ganesh's birth is taken from the Shiva Purāna.

             Once Goddess Parvati was preparing for Bath. She did not want to be disturbed. So she decided to keep someone on the gate who will guard the house. So Goddess Parvati took the turmeric paste from her body and made a form of a boy. She breathed life into him. She sent him to guard the door until she finished her bath.

             Lord Shiva came to the house and was surprised to see the boy. He asked the boy to let him enter but the boy did not let him enter. Lord Shiva became angry and out of rage he severed the boy's head with Trishul (key weapon of Lord Shiva).

            When Goddess Parvati came to know about this she felt insulted. She said that she would destroy the entire creation. Lord Brahma started pleading  to Goddess Parvati. She said she would spare the world only if her son was brought to life again.
     

Gajanana

   
            Lord Shiva agreed to the proposal and sent his dutas to bring the head of the first creaature they found. They returned with a head of a powerful elephant called Gajasura. Brahma places the head on the boy's body and breathed life in him. From that day  Lord Ganesh was called Gajanana (one with elephant's head).

The Story Of Atma Linga

Atma Linga

 
         Atma Linga is considered to be the  soul of Lord Shiva. According to the mythology it gives immortality and invincibility. Ravan was the demon king of Lanka (present Sri Lanka). When he came to know about the Atma Linga, he wanted to acquire it. So Ravan started worshipping Lord Shiva. When Lord Shiva appeared in front of Ravan he asked for Atma Linga as his boon.

           Lord Shiva gave the Atma Linga to Ravan but with one condition. The condition was that Ravan could not put the Atma Linga on ground before reaching his destination and if he put it on ground the Atma Linga would be rooted to the ground forever. Ravan agreed and started on his way back to Lanka.

       Narada asked for help from Lord Ganesha saying that if Ravan acquired invincibility and immortality he would destroy the whole world. Ravan was a very devoted person and he had never missed his evening prayer. So Lord Ganesh made a plan. Ganesh went to Lord Vishnu asking for help. Lord Vishnu created the illusion of dusk. As Ravan used to perform his evening prayers daily, he became very tensed.
 

Ravan Giving The Atma Linga To A Boy

    
           Lord Ganesh went to that place in a disguise of a brahmin boy with some cows. Ravan requested that boy to hold the Atma Linga for him until he finished his evening prayers. He also asked the boy not to put the Atma Linga on the ground. The boy agreed but said he would call Ravan thrice and if he would not return, he would go putting the Atma Linga on the ground.

        Ravan went to do his evening prayers. As for condition Lord Ganesh called out Ravan's name thrice rapidly and placed the Atma Linga on the ground. When Ravan saw this he started chasing the boy but the boy disappeared. While chasing Ravan could only get the hold of one of his cows ears. The cow disappeared but it's ear remained in Ravan's hand. Thus the mane of this place become Gokarna (in Sanskrit Go means cow and Karna means ear).

           Ravan tried very hard to pull back the Atma Linga from ground but it was rooted to the ground very deeply. Due to the force exerted by Ravan, some pieces were scattered.  

Murdeshwara Shiva Temple

            One such piece from the head of the linga is said to have fallen in present-day Surathkhal. The famous Sadashiva temple is built around that piece of linga. Then Ravan decided to destroy the covering of the Atma-Linga, and threw the case covering it to a place called Sajjeshwar. Then he threw the lid of the cas to a place called Guneshwar and Dhareshwar. Finally, he threw the cloth covering the Atma-Linga to a place called Mrideshwara in Kanduka-Giri (Kanduka Hill). Mrideshwara has been renamed to Murdeshwara. 

Mahabaleshwar Shiva Temple

            After failing in his attempt to pull of the Atma Linga, Ravan gave it the name Mahabaleshwar meaning "All Powerful". The Mahabaleshwar temple is situated along in the West coast of India in North Kannada district of North Karnataka. Every year thousands of devotees come to this place to take the blessings of Lord Shiva. This temple holds long history of devotion.