Ganesh Chaturthi is a major festival in India which is
celebrated with great splendour, love and sincerity. And there is a Famous
Saying on the Ganesh Chaturthi day that, one should not see the moon, else one
will face false allegations in the coming year. Yes, you have heard it correct.
Here is the Story behind “Why you should not see the Moon on
Ganesh Chaturthi”?
Lord Ganesha is very fond of Modakas which are sweet balls
made of rice. One Ganesh Chaturthi day, the Lord visited the homes of his
devotees accepting their offerings of Modakas. After having eaten a large
number of Modakas, the Lord set out that night for his home riding his vahana
the mouse.
Seeing a snake, the mouse got afraid and stumbled, resulting
in Ganesha falling down, his stomach bursting open and the sweet Modakas
rolling out. The Elephant God gathered the fallen Modakas and stuffed them back
into his stomach, and catching the snake that had caused the mouse to stumble,
tied it round His belly.
Seeing all this, the moon in the sky laughed heartily. The
Lord furious at the behaviour of the moon, pulled out one of His tusks and
hurled it at the moon and cursed that no one should look at the moon on the day
of Ganesha Chaturthi and that if anyone looks at it on that day, the person
would earn censure and ill repute.
The moral of this tale is that the moon who behaved
unbecomingly towards the Lord is a metaphor that we should avoid the company of
those who have no faith in God or in the Guru.
It is said that anyone who looks at the moon on the night of
the Ganesh Chaturthi will be falsely accused. If someone inadvertently sees the
moon on this night, he/she may remedy the situation by listening to (or
reciting) the story of the syamantaka jewel found in the 'Puranas' or ancient
Hindu scriptures.
So, DO NOT see the MOON Tonight.