«Stories on lord Ganesh series -1: From various sources of Ganesh Purana» by Anusha hs

Lord Ganesh is the son of Goddess Parvati and Lord Shiva. He is the first one to get worshipped before worshipping any other god. We can say in short that there is no Hindu who doesn't perform Lord Ganesh’s worship. In Ramayana Lord Rama had worshipped Lord Ganesh.
In Mahabharata Lord Krishna had also worshipped Lord Ganesh. They have become the role models to the whole world. Before the beginning of any work it is common to worship Lord Ganesh. There are many Holy hymns on Lord Ganesh. Lord Ganesh’s favorite food is modak.
He gets pleased if we offer Durva grass to him. He also loves red Hibiscus flower. He is called the vighnaharta because he wards off all the obstacles in our life. He is also called vighnaraja. There are infinite names to Lord Ganesh which we cannot explain. He ties a snake around his waist.
The vehicle of Lord Ganesh is mouse in Hindu culture. Lord Ganesh is worshipped all over India. His miracles have been described in all of the 18 Puranas. There are many forms of Lord Ganesh.
He has got two wives one is riddhi and the other is siddhi.Lord Ganesh has got 32 forms of incarnations. The modak which you offer to Lord Ganesh will give you good results. Lord Ganesh does not bias among his devotees. He is specially worshipped on sankashti days. On Ganesh Chaturthi people fast and perform vrath.On this day it is forbidden to see Chandra the moon.
On this day there is a custom to bring Idol of lord Ganesh which is made out of clay and after worshipping it will be drowned into the nearby Ponds, lakes, Canals. In some places people do keep the idol of Lord Ganesh from Chaturthi to Anant Chaturdashi and then do the Visarjan of the idol. Visarjan means leaving the idol of Lord Ganesh and make it drown.
Also in every month the fourth day after New Moon is called Vinayak Chaturthi. If anyone performs this Vinayak Chaturthi Vrath, he will be blessed with Intelligence and wisdom. Whereas if any person performs sankashti Chaturthi which falls on the 4th day after full moon of every month all his difficulties will get vanished.

Since Tuesday is dear to Lord Ganesh and also if the sankashti falls on Tuesday it is celebrated as “Angarki sankashti” which is believed to be the most auspicious among all the remaining ones. This Angarki sankashti falls once or twice in a year. Lord Ganesh has got two sons and a daughter. They are shubh, labh and Santoshi.Goddess Santoshi is the Goddess of satisfaction.
People do vraths on Santoshi Ma in the Northern parts of India and worship her. Ganesh Chaturthi festival is celebrated every year in India with great pomp and glory. On this day those people who have taken up this vraths wake up early finish off their morning ablutions, bring an idol of Lord Ganesh made out of clay. People bring the idol to their houses and keep the idol of the lord such that its face would be facing towards north direction.
They prepare a small Mandap and keep the idol inside it. Afterwards they worship the Lord by offering Sandalwood paste, few rice grains, vermilion, Durva grass, flowers, offering prasadam to one and all. In India people bring Lord Ganesh’s idols by collecting money from each house in the locality build make— Shift Mandap and construct pendals.
They keep the idol inside that and worship lord Ganesh.
Since it is prohibited to view the moon on this day people won't look at the moon. Suppose if by mistake any one looks at the moon that person will undergo humiliations and mockery. Since lord Ganesh had cursed the moon on this day, people read the story of syamanthakamani in order to overcome it. By the effect of this vraths only damayanti got the king Nala,lord Krishna got his love jambavati and syamanthakamani,lord Indra defeated a demon named vratrasura,bhageeratha succeeded in bringing the holy Ganga Mata to this earth and finally Lord Shiva got rid of a disease named leprosy by performing this vraths. Let us all give salutations to Lord Ganesh. Ganapati Bappa Morya!!!