Any Ganesha Idol you notice the god has one broken tusk and a mouse tucked in somewhere. The mouse is Ganesha’s wahan, or his means of transportation. One night when the pot-bellied and plump Ganesha was taking a ride on his mouse mooshak, the moon saw the sight and found it rather amusing. He thought, how could such a huge body ride such a tiny rat? He laughed out loud, causing Ganesh to lose his balance and topple over, at which the moon laughed out even louder. Annoyed and embarrassed, Ganesha broke one of his tusks and threw it at the moon with a curse that he would be whole for just one day in the month after which he would start disappearing and would be completely. Only after 14 day can he show his face on earth again. For a long time, I thought the childhood folklore was true. Thankfully today I am wiser and more enlightened than I was as a kid!

About the picture: The picture is a bit grainy as the lens range isn’t that great. I got this picture the night of Eid, a day before Ganesh Chathurthi. I have a fascination with the moon, too bad I didn’t own a camera at the super moon, but that doesn’t dampen my spirits 🙂