Chatha or Ganesh Chauthi

Chatha or Ganesh Chauthi is a very typical ceremonial day, celebrated every year with great sense of humour and fun. Chatha or Chauthi literally means the fourth day of the lunar month. This particular day is also observed as the auspicious birth-day of Lord Ganesh. One of the most enjoyable aspects of this festival is Chatha Deo, meaning the god of theft. It is interesting to note that the fourth day moon on this particular day is worshipped as the god of theft. According to an old traditional belief, those who want to give themselves to the stealing profession should steal some thing on this day and give it as a gift to Chatha Deo, the god of theft (the fourth day moon). It is also said that those who fail in stealing on this day will not succeed in this business for the whole year to come. As the age old custom would have it, small kids on this particular day from early in the morning go haunting around the fruit gardens of their neighbours and steal away the fruits like oranges, pears, peaches, plums and so on which they pin up like medallions to the dresses they wear. The main purpose behind this is Interestingly to show that the fruit fairly pinned up to their dresses are by no means from theft but their own. The kids carry such fruits all day long till the thief 'god' is worshipped in the late evening. It is in this worship that they make offering of all those fruits to the Chatha Deo (Moon) The Newari word Chatha Deo is also a watch word quite often used to denote one who has a suspected character. Calling some one a big Chatha Deo for no fault of his own is irritating enough to put him in fury in no time. Chattuchor is another equivalent of the word Chatha Deo.

There is a belief that those who venture to look at the moon on this particular day are sure to get charged for theft. So the people who want to stay way from the 'thief god (the moon) on this day hide themselves in the possible rooms with all the windows closed tight from darkest inside. They do this long before the moon (the thief god) appears in the sky for fear that they might be blindly charged for theft. However, it is not only the human beings but also the gods like Lord Krishna and Bheemsena are said to have been afraid of this 'thief god'. According to a very interesting Puranic episodel-once the sun-god gave magnificent mani (a celestial gem) as a gift to a Yadava hero who is his favourite devotee. When Yadava's enemies learnt that he got a gorgeous gem they immediately spread out a rumour that he stole away a celestial gem from the treasure of the sun god. Lord Krishna got so upset to hear this that he did not know what to do as Yadava was no other than his relative. Finally, he went to Lord Ganesh and prayed him to get rid of this false charge. It must be remembered that Lord Ganesh in Hindu as well as in Buddhist community is worshipped as the god of good luck and also as a great remover of obstacles. Bheemasena, one of the great heroes of the Mahabharata is well known for his unusual adventures and bravery yet he bides himself from the suspected moon (in this dark temple room like a coward) on this particular day lest he would be charged for theft, The custom of closing the windows of Patan Bheemasen temple for this purpose is still in practice.

 The religious texts say that the moon was born from the human mind. As a matter of fact, there is a very close affinity between the moon and the human mind. Because both are liable to the rise and the fall. So both of these are said to symbolise illusion, which gods always hate. The moon tucked in the matted hair di vine wisdom of Lord Shiva symbolizes His eve nature r controlling the mind which is restless by . Moonless nights are generally compared to the completely controlled minds, which are free from illusion. According to our great Hindu saints, what is eternal and attractive is not the illusive moon but the dark blue sky which is always dominating the entire cosmos. To put it other way round the dark blue sky has a complete command and control over the moon as our wisdom has over our mind. The extreme dark point of the last day of the lunar month is the favourite of great Hindu gods like Lord Shiva, Krishna, Ganesh and so forth.

 This festival always falls on the fourth day of the bright fortnight of Bhadra which is to indicate that the human mind mingled with the moon remains far from the divine vision. For the 'spiritual seekers, the crescent moon which appears in the sky only late at night is like a night walker, whose main job is to rob off the passers by. Most probably, this is the reason why the moon of this particular day is associated with the theme of theft. 

Another interesting aspect of this festival is the worship of Lord Ganesh. Worshipping Ganesh with the single minded devotion on this day is believed to put the worshippers under the protective shade of the Lord. However, people worship Lord Ganesh on this day particularly with the view that by the grace of the Lord no enemy can put any false charge on them for theft. It is said that it is entirely in the hands of Lord Ganesh, the elephant-headed god of good luck to make one a thief or a saint. There is a very fascinating legend about how Lord Ganesh cursed the moon for his being rude to him.

 Thus runs the story

 It was a full moon day. Lord Ganesh, the elephant-headed god with a big bulging belly seated on the back of a tiny rat was moving on his way to a great council meeting of all the Hindu gods and goddesses. When the full moon god saw the elephant -headed god clumsily riding a poor tiny rat, he could not help laughing at him. The moon god laughed and laughed and made a great deal of fun of Ganesh. When Lord Ganesh could not stand it any longer, he cursed the moon god saying, "From now on you would have no more light for yourself and also nobody would ever look at your face on my birth day (which is this festival day). Those who dare to look at your face on this day are sure to turn out to be thieves." Thus the full moon god, who is said to be too proud of his beauty and bright beams, is punished by Lord Ganesh for his ugly laugh at the Lord. The moon god became terribly sad for the blunder he committed. He then went straight to Lord Shiva, the father of Ganesh, split his entire sad story and prayed for the good grace of the Lord. Then the Lord moved with great pity for the poor moon god made an immediate arrangement with his son Ganesh according to which the moon god was granted to have his full light back at least once a month for his great relief. However, the second curse the Lord put on the moon god was never withdrawn. That is an ugly laugh and suspected look he has to suffer on every birth day of Lord Ganesh.