Rituals
The ritual world of Hinduism (manifestations of which differ greatly amongst regions, villages, and individuals) offers a number of common features that link all Hindus into a greater Indian religious system, and influences other religions as well.
The most notable feature in religious ritual is the division between purity and pollution. Religious acts presuppose some degree of impurity or defilement for the practitioner, which must be overcome or neutralized before or during ritual procedures. Purification, usually with water, is a typical feature of most religious actions. Avoidance of the impure - taking animal life, eating flesh, proximity to dead things or bodily fluids - is another feature of Hindu ritual and is important for repressing pollution.
The home is the place where most Hindus conduct their worship and religious rituals. The most important times of day for performance of household rituals are dawn and dusk, although especially devout families may engage in devotion more often. For many households, the day begins when the women in the house draw auspicious geometric designs in chalk or rice flour on the floor or the doorstep. For orthodox Hindus, dawn and dusk are greeted with a recitation from the Rig Veda of the Gayatri Mantra for the sun - for many people, the only Sanskrit prayer they know. After a bath, there is personal worship of the gods at a family shrine, which typically includes lighting a lamp and offering foodstuffs before the images, while prayers in Sanskrit or a regional language are recited. Then, in the evenings, especially in rural areas, mostly female devotees may gather together for long sessions of singing hymns in praise of one or more of the gods.
Minor acts of charity punctuate the day. During daily baths, there are even offerings of a little water in memory of the ancestors. At each meal, families may set aside a handful of grain to be donated to beggars or needy persons, and daily gifts of small amounts of grain to birds or other animals serve to accumulate merit for the family through their self-sacrifice.
The Gayatri Mantra inspires wisdom in us using very basic but beautiful language. It says "May the divine light of the Supreme Being illuminate our intellect, to lead us along a path of righteousness".
The Vedas say:
"To chant the Gayatri Mantra
purifies the chanter.
To listen to the Gayatri Mantra
purifies the listener."
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When Shiva returned home Vinayak did not allow him to enter. After a brief argument, Shiva beheaded Vinayak with his trishul (a kind of trident). When Parvati heard about this she cried in despair over the loss of her son. As a means to console Parvati, Shiva sent his men to the forest and instructed them to retrieve the head of the first living creature they met. Shortly, his men returned with the head of a baby elephant. With his divine powers, Shiva placed the baby elephant’s head over Vinayak's body and, in a matter of seconds, Vinayak came back to life.
After this incident, Vinayak became known as Gajaanan, which stems from the root word ‘gaj’ meaning elephant. Shiva blessed him with a boon and explained that people would first offer their love and devotion to Ganeshji before starting any auspicious activity