Myths and legendsTopic: India- Ganesha

Team Members• Ashna Shah- Group Leader

. Jiya Shah. Hiya Rokani

. Pragati Ranka . Padm:laxmi Panchal

. Hrishita Palrecha .Pooja Pai

• Vedika Padliya• Kruti Purohit

Q.1 What are myths and legends?

A myth is an Ancient Traditional story of Gods or Heroes in which a problem of human existence is dealt with. Some myths explain facts or natural occurrences’. In contrast, a myth is a type of symbolic storytelling that was never based on fact.

A legend is presumed to have some basis in historical fact and tends to mention real people or events. Historical fact morphs into a legend when the truth has been exaggerated to the point that real people or events have taken on a romanticized, "larger than life" quality.

Difference between written stories with an oral tradition.

Oral Tradition• Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and tradition transmitted orally from generation to another. Nobody seems to be

in possession of the noriginal text now, because it was passed on in the oral

tradition. Even though Lord Ganesh is supposed to have written it down, it was still

being passed on orally by sages like Lomaharshan, who narrated it to King

Janmejay/Janmajeya after stopping him from killing all the snakes in a Yagna because the King's father had been bitten and poisoned

to death by a snake to fulfil a curse.one

Written Stories• Written stories were first written by its real

writer. Now as it is become very rare people started making up stories out of it.

Sage Vyasa wanted to write the epic Mahabharata and wanted somebody to

write it. As he would be thinking and reciting it at very high speed a very able and exemplary write was required to writ it. So sage Vyasa asked sage Narada to

suggest somebody to write the Mahabharata for him. The written stories

are also known as written culture.

Q.3 In Indian culture what values does Lord Ganesha have?

• The worship of Ganesha by Hindus outside of India shows regional variation. The acceptance of Hindu ideas in ancient times still continue today in world religions.

• Ganesha was a deity particularly worshipped by traders and merchants, who went out of India for commercial ventures. The period from approximately the tenth century onwards was marked by the development of new networks of exchange, the formation of trade guilds, and a resurgence of money circulation, and it was during this time that Ganesha became the principal deity associated with traders. The earliest inscription where Ganesha is invoked before any other deity is by the merchant community

Q.4 In what ways does Ganesha illustrate the beliefs system of the culture that create him? In the Hindu tradition there are many symbolic representations of divinity, and it would be very easy to become confused by the different representations of God. Ganesha is one of the most easily recognizable Gods from any religion, because he has the head of an elephant. This elephant-headed God appears very widely throughout all Hindu traditions. Ganesha is also represented as the bringer of wealth and prosperity; many Hindus worship Ganesha because they want money. This is mistaken. Many Hindus worship Ganesha because they want success in business or power in the world. Unfortunately, they do not understand what Ganesha is and is not

Characters pictures along with its symbols.

Symbols of Lord GaneshaLord Ganesha is the lord of wisdom ,

knowledge and prosperity

Q.4 Mythology is all around us! Have you seen it?

Some people believe that if a black cat come in our way, something bad happens and this is a myth, people probably called these things are superstitions. There is a myth growing around us but we do not know when and where. There is some mythology. The black cat gives a bad luck, we don’t know. Because most of the people have proved it wrong.

“We can keep a child with a Knowledge of an earlier mythBut we can not take from himthe need for mythology”

Thank you