Did you know that Lord Ganesha has a daughter as well?

 According to a popular Hindu tradition, Lord Ganesha had two wives, Riddhi and Siddhi, and two sons, Shubha and Labha.

Once, on the auspicious occasion of Raksha Bandhan, Ganesha's sister Manasa Devi came from Mount Kailash to tie a rakhi to him with great love and affection.
Seeing this beautiful bond, Ganesha's sons, Shubha and Labha, wished that they too had a sister who could tie a rakhi to them.
Lord Ganesha first hesitated and then later he did not want to deny his beloved sons' heartfelt wish. With the divine powers of Riddhi and Siddhi, a radiant divine flame of light(Jothi in telugu) appeared, from which a beautiful girl was born.
Everyone was filled with immense joy and peace upon seeing her. Since she was associated with happiness, satisfaction, and contentment, she was named as Santoshi Mata(happiness means santosham in telugu)— the Goddess of Happiness , Satisfaction and Contentment.
From then on, Santoshi Mata would tie rakhi to her brothers, Shubha and Labha, on Raksha Bandhan, bringing happiness and strengthening the loving bond between them ❤️
Because of this beautiful story, devotees began worshipping Santoshi Mata as the goddess who brings happiness, satisfaction, peace, and contentment into people's lives. 🙏✨
Jai Santoshi Mata! 🌺
Jai Shri Ganesha! 🕉️

NOTE:I’m extremely sorry if I’m mistaken in any way. 🙏 I’m just sharing the knowledge I have learned and understood. If there’s anything incorrect, please feel free to correct me. ❤️

Spread love,happiness and positivity!!
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What is the story of Kusha's daughter Hema, and how does her marriage reflect the customs of that time?

 

Kusha , Champika and their daughter Hema

Kusha, the eldest son of Shri Ram and Mata Sita was married to Princess Champika, daughter of Maharaja Bhurikirti. Rishi Agastya after their marriage prophesized to Shri Ram that Champika won't be having any sons but daughters and when Shri Ram had left for Vaikuntha, Kusha would get a second wife named Kumudvati and get sons.

Kusha and Champika started their marital life and they had nine daughters together. Once Shri Ram organised a grand Swayamvara for Hema, beautiful and illustrious daughter of Kusha and Champika. Many Kings were invited in the Swayamvara along with Prince Chitrangad of Avanti.

Chitrangada fell in love with beautiful and illustratious Hema and wished to marry her. He hypnotized everyone in the Swayamvara while Shri Ram and other elders were away and took Hema on his chariot and left but he didn't go to Avanti and stopped midway as he considered it wrong to take her away like this. But it was too late, the royal house found it insulting and Lava and others attacked him in which Lava got unconsious. Then Kusha came and defeated Chitrangad and his father Ugrabahu and took them to Shri Ram. Shri Ram forgave them due to friendly relationship with Avanti and the good behaviour of the father and son in the past. It's not properly written but it's hinted that Hema was married off to Chitrangad as usually happened in such situations.

Shri Ram gave Kusha his famous golden arm- bracelet after this victory which was originally gifted to him by Rishi Agastya and years later this very bracelet became the reason of the union of Kusha and his love Kumudvati and the birth of meritorious, handsome and intelligent Atithi, the scion of Raghu and worthy grandson of Shri Ram.

Ananda Ramayana is considered a late source although it's writer is called Maharishi Valmiki. The source mentions history of sons of Lord Ram and his siblings.

Source- Ananda Ramayana

Marriage MATERIAL or a LIVEly Daughter??

Ever since I have started working in a government organization, people around me keep saying, "your prospects of getting married to a nice guy are brighter and better now " I always feel like laughing at this illogical statement and I fail to understand why a job or its type is linked to marriage in India, more importantly, why is every fucking thing treated as an eligibility criteria for being an ideal marriage material for Indian girls? Right from her looks to her education, right from her health to her job, everything perhaps has one primary objective- to make her eligible for getting married, to make her perfect in every sense, not with an intention to teach her how to be a good citizen/woman/daughter/wife/mother, but with a fear in their minds, a fear that one day she has to get married and her future in laws expect her to be perfect!!

Confused?? Read the following points one by one, please note that every word is TRUE and REAL

• She is a school kid, like all kids of her age ,she loves playing and watching TV much more than cooking and other household chores, but her mother always tells her that if she does not learn how to cook ,she will be in deep trouble after she gets married, in fact ,this would act as a hindrance in their path to find a suitable match for her.. Why do we have to teach our kids in such a fashion that inculcates fear in them, that makes them feel scared of marriage and in laws at the age when they don't even know what marriage is? Why can't we simply tell them that they ought to learn things for their own good ?
• She is a bright student. She has always been a hard working and sincere girl. However, one fine day, when she could not score well in an exam, her mother warned her about competition for jobs , telling her that everyone 'asks' and 'demands' for working women these days..People say that nowadays parents consider education of their daughters as important as education for their sons, the exact reason lies in the previous statement! Why do we have to associate every damn thing about a girl's life with her marriage? Doesn't she have her own ambitions? Shouldn't we ask her to work hard and be independent? Perhaps her own ambitions don't exist for all those people who think she should work only to meet the 'demands' of people looking for a working wife for their sons!
• She was a lively,bubbly college kid, she never cared about what others thought of her, her friends used to call her 'fatty' for she was slightly overweight, it never affected her much! One fine day , her mother told her, " Nobody would marry you if you continue to gain weight like this" and that was the first time when she was affected by a comment! Why can't we ask our daughters to take care of their own health and fitness in the first place? Isn't her well being important otherwise? Why is her being perfectly eligible for marriage more important than her being perfectly fit and fine? Aren't we responsible for making them feel confident ?
• She was a talented, creative fashion designer working for a boutique ,she wanted to have her own startup, but her family insisted that she should think of getting married now for she was 25 already! Why is society's pressure valued more than a girl's dreams and plans? Doesn't she have a right to be ambitious? Who makes these ridiculous rules? 

A mother can never even think of doing something that makes her daughter sad, yet,without realizing the emotional and psychological impact of all these things on her daughter, she continues to do so..why? The answer is simple. Indian parents are the victims of Indian society, they can't stand their daughters being not suitable in the eyes of the society! Sadly, even TV serials and movies promote the same culture, the same ideologies that preach that a girl's life is all about one major life event- marriage and her parents ought to prepare her for that right from the day she is born.

Marriage, undoubtedly , is like the biggest turning point in a person's life! But why do we expect a person to be perfect when we think of getting married? I find it incomprehensibly difficult to believe that people totally forget things like compatibility and mutual understanding! The irony is that they fail to realize that they are looking for a daughter-in-law, who is a human being, with her own flaws, her own qualities, her own beliefs, they are not going to buy a product with desirable configurations and specifications!

The message is simple and is dedicated to all Indian parents with an intention to make them understand something very important. She has her own life, her own identity! She doesn't deserve to be treated like a commodity in a market of cut throat competition! She deserves to be respected!
Love her, care for her , make her feel confident , make her feel beautiful, ask her to respect herself, teach her to love herself the way she is! Ask her to explore the whole world, teach her to be bold, be optimistic! Let her be free, let her discover herself, let her dream, let her aspire, let her strive for success, let her smile, let her be !