The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Ganesh Chathurthi

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Wednesday, Sep 03, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Ganesh Chathurthi - The Occasion of Eternal Joy

This day is celebrated as the birth day of Lord Ganesha, who is considered to be the indispensable deity of the age-old and time- tested Hindu religion. It is celebrated under different names within India and other remote corners of the world. He is considered to be the bestower of wealth and wisdom to all who worship him. So he remains a favourable deity of most Hindus. He is also the lord of ganas. Hence aptly called Ganapathi. There is an interesting story behind his po rtrayal as a elephant-faced god.

Actually he was created as a guard by his mother Parvathi when she wanted to take bath. She made her of the sandalwood paste she usually applied on her body and breathed him to life. She instructed him not to allow anyone while she was taking bath. Lord Shiva, who was away for some time returned and tried to enter the place, without knowing him Lord Ganesha stopped him and enraged at this act of defiance, Shiva cut off the head of Lord Ganesha. When Parvati came to know of it, she was deeply worried as well as terribly angry. The devas and rishis wanted to make her happy and peaceful. They prayed to Lord Shiva, who sent out his ganas to bring the head of any living thing they saw first and it happened to be an elephant and the elephant’s head was placed on Ganesha’s trunk and thus he regained his head and was immediately made the Lord of ganas.

But this rather religious ceremony was used for a noble cause by Balagangadhar Tilak in Maharashtra during the Indian Independence Struggle. The hitherto family ceremony was made public in order to unite all sections of society against the then British government. By doing so Tilak was able to achieve a twin purpose of bringing equality among all castes of people and fighting unitedly the common adversary they saw in the British rulers. From then onwards, it is in Maharashtra that this festival is celebrated with unbelievable enthusiasm and bhakti. In Maharashtra, Ganesh Chathurti is celebrated for nearly ten days, starting from Shukla chaturthi to Ananda Chaturdashi.

Ganesh idols of various sizes and made of varied materials are kept in “Pandals” along the roads for the common man to offer his prayers. Virtually, during these ten days almost every street displays and functions as a make-shift Ganesha temple. However in recent times, the seeming innocuous ceremony raises some environment-related questions, as these idols some of which are made of harmful materials are immersed in public pond or rivers without any forethought. However, the celebrators and the authorities concerned are trying their best to solve this problem in an amicable manner.

So let us also celebrate this festival with unbound joy and bhakti

Thico Silks: Where Tradition Meets Modernity

Thirubuvanam of Thanjavur district has an inseperable association with silk sarees since time immemorial. The illustrious Sourashtra Community who lives here makes Thirubuvanam find a place for itself on the business map of India. There are umpteen shops that sell silk sarees and other dress materials in this small town. However THICO SILKS stands out as the epitome of excellence and incomparable quality in the field of silk-saree making. This society boasts of some 1850 a ctive and skilled weavers on its payroll. These weavers operate more than 5000 looms for the production of silk0sarees. The weavers of today are actually the fifth generation of weavers who continue to be the agile members of this great society.

What makes THICO SILKS unique is its high standard of materials and customer services. This society has its own dyeing plant where, under the professional supervisory skills of weaving inspectors and other technicians each saree is meticulously dyed as per the instruction. Similarly the breath-taking designs are also the result of the indefatigable panel of experts who visit different industries across India and collect exquisite and exclusive designs for the sarees besides making designs themselves.

The quality of silk sarees are maintained throughout by strictly adhering to the government guidelines on the materials used in proper proportion. The silk sarees are inspected during all the stages of their production to ascertain its quality. Thus the outcome becomes unbeatable and incomparable. This society has 36 branches and franchise shops across Tamilnadu for sales alone. Of the total record breaking sales of thirty crores worth sarees last year, twenty crores were sold in THICO SILKS, Thirubuvanam alone. On the occasion of Ganesh Chathurthi and Onam THICO SILKS offers a tempting discount of 20% on all types of silk sarees. Similarly silk sarees of old stock get 35% to 40% rebate. Some thirty two new designs are also introduced for the customer to choose from the already attractive collection of silk sarees.

Administered by Mr. S.Prakasam, Joint Director/Special Officer, this reputed society achieved a sales of 31.13 crores last year. This year target is fixed at 36 crores, of which 16 crores mark has already been attained. This alone describes in no unambiguous terms the reliability and uncompromising quality of the silk sarees produced here. Can anyone then be surprised at the fact that it grows from stature to stature each passing day?

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