Why is Lord Ganesha worshipped first at all pujas?

Lord Ganesha or ‘bappa’ as I like to call him, is my favourite God. While growing up, Ganesh Chaturthi was my favourite festival (it still is). Listening to his stories and watching his cute animated movies was all that I used to do in the five days holiday of Ganesh Chaturthi.

A few days back, when I was at my cousin’s wedding, I noticed one weird thing, Ganesha was worshipped first in all the rituals. Later, I realised that this is not just limited to weddings, but Ganesha is revered first in every other aspect of life too. The term Shree Ganesh has become synonymous with starting a new thing. This got me curious and when I searched for the ‘why’ behind this particular practice, I found two interesting stories explaining the rationale.

The first story goes back to an incident when Parvati Mata ordered Lord Ganesha to guard the gates and not let anyone in. Lord Shiva entered the scene. He asked Ganesha to let him in. He denied his father’s request and didn’t let him in. This agitated Shiva and he cut off his head. Seeing this, Parvati Mata got so angry that she warned Shiva that she would destroy the whole creation if her son was not revived. Shiva got so scared of her that he transplanted an elephants head to Ganesha. A joyous Parvati then gave her son the blessing for his obedience that he would be worshipped first in all pujas and rituals thereafter!

The second story revolves around a race between Kartikeya and Ganesha for the divine fruit of knowledge and immortality Sage Narada offered. The one who would complete three circumambulations of the earth first would get the fruit. Kartikeya then sat on his vahana Parvani (a peacock) and quickly completed three circumambulations of the earth. On the other hand, Ganesha did the same circumambulations around his parents and completed them before Kartikeya. Impressed by her son’s modesty, Parvati Mata blessed Ganesha that he will be worshipped first in all pujas and rituals thereafter!

Thank you for reading!❤️

(PS: This was my subtle way of doing the Shree Ganesh of Mythology Musings. Please share it with your friends and family if you liked it!)