Alternative spellings of this word include Vinayakachaturthi.

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In Hinduism

Purana and Itihasa (epic history)

Source: archive.org: Puranic Encyclopedia

Vināyakacaturthī (विनायकचतुर्थी).—One of the important festivals of the Hindus. This is called the day of worship of Gaṇeśa. The Caturthī (4th day) of the bright lunar fortnight in the month of Siṃha is the birth day of Gaṇapati. It is a famous festival in North India. They make the images of Gaṇapati, every year, and make offerings to them on this particular day.

It is believed, that he who sees the moon on Vināyaka Caturthī, will be subjected to dishonour and derision. This belief is based on the following story.

Gaṇapati is very fond of sweetmeat especially Kozhukkaṭṭa (globular solid sweetmeat, called Modaka). It is the custom in North India to worship Gaṇapati by offering these sweetmeats, even today, with all kinds of festivities. On one birthday Gaṇapati went from house to house and ate belly-ful of modakas and returned home on his conveyance, the rat. On the way the rat saw a snake and began to tremble with fear. Due to the shivering of its legs Gaṇapati fell down. The belly of Gaṇapati was broken due to the fall and a large quantity of modakas came out. Gaṇapati gathered everything that fell out of his belly and stuffed them again in the stomach and joining the cut edges entwined the snake tightly round the stomach. Candra who was standing in the sky seeing all these things laughed with contempt. At this, Gaṇapati got wild and plucked his tusk and throwing it at the moon cursed him. "Let nobody look at you on the Gaṇapati-festival day." (Brahmavaivarta Purāṇa). This story is slightly different according to Gaṇeśa Purāṇa. That story is, that Śrī Parameśvara gave a plum to his elder son Subrahmaṇya without the knowledge of his younger son Gaṇapati, on the 4th day of a bright lunar fortnight and the moon who smiled at it, was cursed.

context information

The Purana (पुराण, purāṇas) refers to Sanskrit literature preserving ancient India’s vast cultural history, including historical legends, religious ceremonies, various arts and sciences. The eighteen mahapuranas total over 400,000 shlokas (metrical couplets) and date to at least several centuries BCE.

Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Vināyakacaturthī (विनायकचतुर्थी):—[=vi-nāyaka-caturthī] [from vi-nāyaka > vi-nī] f. the fourth day of the festival in honour of Gaṇeśa, [Catalogue(s)]

[Sanskrit to German]

Vinayakacaturthi in German

context information

Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.

Kannada-English dictionary

Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpus

Vināyakacaturthi (ವಿನಾಯಕಚತುರ್ಥಿ):—

1) [noun] the fourth day of Bha`drapada, the sixth month in the Hindu lunar calendar.

2) [noun] a festival observed on that day in honour of Gan'es'a.

context information

Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.

See also (Relevant definitions)

Partial matches: Caturthi, Vinayaka.

Starts with: Vinayakacaturthivrata.

Ends with: Avighnavinayakacaturthi, Mahavinayakacaturthi.

Full-text: Vinayakacauti, Caturthivrata.

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Search found 2 books and stories containing Vinayakacaturthi, Vināyakacaturthī, Vinayaka-caturthi, Vināyaka-caturthī, Vināyakacaturthi, Vināyaka-caturthi; (plurals include: Vinayakacaturthis, Vināyakacaturthīs, caturthis, caturthīs, Vināyakacaturthis). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:

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