#laddoos

Yesterday, Hindus worldwide celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi, or Ganesha’s Birthday!! Ganesha is the Hindu god of auspiciousness, wisdom, prosperity, and a million other things. He is shown as having an elephant head, and a really chubby body. His four hands hold an axe (occasionally an ankush - the tool used by mahouts to control elephants), a noose, a flower or his tusk, and his favourite snack - laddoos or modak!

His birth story is like really rad, and also another legend concerning his birthday.

So his birth story goes that once the goddess Parvati had asked Shiva’s favourite devotee and vehicle, Nandi the Bull, to guard the door while she bathes and let nobody enter (pro tip: do not ask your husband’s lackey to do your work). Anyways Shiva enters in full dudebro Chad mode, and heads towards the bathroom. 

Nandi stops him and says, “My Lord, the Lady is bathing inside. I cannot allow you in.”

Shiva replies, “Well Nandi, we’ve had sex so I think we’re past the point where we can’t see each other in the shower.”

Not cool. Shiva enters the bathroom, and Parvati is shocked and angry. She tells Shiva to leave the bathroom at once, and he goes laughing, saying “Oh women”. Parvati was still seething with anger when Shiva left. Nandi should have stopped him, but he didn’t. Well if nobody here listened to her, she was gonna create her own... personal security head. So she gathered all the foam and dirt that collected as she bathed, and formed a boy out of it. She named the boy Vinayaka (he without a leader) and told him that she was his mother, instructing him to let nobody in while she rests now.

Imagine a cute, chubby fourth grader who’s made class monitor - only they are armed with a super deadly divine weapon. That’s what Vinayaka looked like. He started pacing around, and when Shiva came again he stopped him and said, “Sorry, you can’t enter.” Shiva had never seen this boy. And he was very certain that Parvati couldn’t have been pregnant, at least when he had seen her last. Shiva told him to let him enter, but the boy didn’t budge, saying it was his mother Parvati’s instruction. 

“Well I’m her husband and that makes me your father. Now let me meet your mother, you super adorbs boy” said Shiva.

“I was made only by my mother. And how can I believe you’re my father? I mean, you look skeevy.” replied the boy.

And so Shiva handled it rationally - sending his army of ganas (Shiva’s attendants) led by Nandi to crush the boy. Little did he know that the boy would end up crushing them, and also Nandi’s jaw. Livid, he called all the gods and told them that a super deadly cute possibly demonic boy was harassing him. All the gods then arrived with their own army to kill the boy.

Hearing of this, Parvati then sent forth Durga and Kali and her own army of goddesses to aid Vinayaka in his battle. Bada bing bada boom Shiva finds Vinayaka and beheads him. Parvati rushed out, and when she saw her son lying dead, she vowed revenge on everybody and everything unless her son was brought back to life. So Shiva told his ganas to go north and bring the head of the first animal they see - which turned out to be an elephant. Shiva then attached its head to Vinayaka, making him alive again. However Parvati wasn’t satisfied yet. So Shiva made him the god of obstacles and auspiciousness and a million other things and also gave him the right to be worshipped first in any ritual, and made him the chief of his ganas, thus giving him the name Ganesha.

If you think it doesn’t get any weirder or cooler, just read up how Ganesha handled the moon and his body shaming.

Ganesha was returning from his birthday feast, and he was just munching on some after party snacks while going back home on his vehicle - the rat Mooshak. Mooshak however couldn’t handle Ganesha’s weight and eventually both of them tripped, with Ganesha’s snacks sprawling everywhere. Seeing this, the moon god Chandra couldn’t help but laugh, and said “What happened? Did your balloon like belly come in your way you stupid ass human dumpling!?” and started snickering (dude’s actually a fuckboy, so you get it). Ganesha had about enough. He had fallen down, he had been insulted AND his after party snacks were ruined?! He gathered all the snacks back in their box and then tied it to his belly with a snake (smort). Then he faced the moon and in his adorbs little voice, said, “Yeah well how dare you make fun of me on my birthday! Fuck you you tiny little shit - please don’t tell mom i cursed - you know what, I’ve had about enough you! I curse you to lose your shine and charm and beauty, and I curse that if anybody even sees you on my birthday, they will be inviting my wrath!!!”

Immediately, Chandra kneeled in front of Ganesha, “Please don’t, being a hot piece of eye candy is the only thing I can do please don’t!!” 

To which Ganesha replied, “If you get me enough snacks and food, I might think about it.” (he did Chandra went back to being his fuckboy self but woke).

But he didn’t take back the seeing thing. It is considered bad luck to even glance at the moon on Ganesha Chaturthi, for it is thought to invite the wrath of gods.

Well people this has been an informative sesh, sorry for the long post.

Spherical balls of sweetness that are often related to happiness and auspiciousness, Laddus have always been a part of Indian cultures and traditions. Whether it's the famous Motichur laddus, or the more humble but equally delicious Till Laddus, Coconut Laddus from the south and Bengal, to gigantic Laddus to commemorate special occasions and festivals, Laddus are some of the oldest and most vibrant sweets of the subcontinent.

But did you know that these sweet balls were actually first used for medicinal purposes?

That's right! Sushruta, the famous surgeon, and physician, most popularly known as "The Father of Plastic Surgery", is believed to have used Laddus as an antiseptic to treat his patients in the 4th century BC. He would coat sesame seeds with honey and jaggery and roll them into balls. The ingredients in Laddus, like sesame seeds, jaggery, and peanuts, had nutritional properties. Other reasons include using Laddus for the same purpose that pills and capsules serve today, that is, to get one's medicines while on the road. Some believe that these Laddus are what became the known beloved Till Laddus.

Much like the sweet pellets that are used in homeopathic medicines, right?😁

So, next time if your parents scold you for having too many Laddus, tell them this story, and claim that you are providing "essential nutritional supplements to your body, but in a tasty way". 😜

Let's hope they believe you.

If they don't, then don't blame me! I just stated some historic facts! 😂

Allu Arjun’s wife Sneha made Til Ka Laddoos with her daughter, wished everyone… Sach News Today

Celebrating Sankranti in a special way, the same shade was also seen in South Star Allu Arjun Kidhar where his (Allu Arjun) wife Sneha Reddy made Til Ke Laddoos. He has congratulated the fans for Makar Sankranti by sharing a video from his social media account. Sneha shared a video on 14 January 2023 from her Instagram account. In the video, Sneha is seen making laddoos with her dear daughter…