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Time of India
4 days ago
- General
- Time of India
Top 4 powerful Ganesha mantras to eliminate any challenges in life
Lord Ganesha, revered as the 'Vighnaharta'—the remover of obstacles—is the first deity invoked before any auspicious beginning. Whether you're going through a difficult phase, embarking on a new journey, or simply seeking divine support, chanting these four powerful Ganesha mantras can bring peace, strength, and clarity to your path. 1. Om Gan Ganapataye Namah Meaning: I bow to Lord Ganesha, the remover of obstacles and the leader of all beings. Benefits: This mantra is especially helpful when you're feeling fearful, anxious, or stuck. Regular chanting helps dissolve fear, boost self-confidence, and create a spiritual shield, making it ideal during uncertain times or when starting something new. 2. Vakratunda Mahakaya Suryakoti Samaprabha Nirvighnam Kuru Me Deva Sarva-Karyeshu Sarvada Meaning: O Lord with a curved trunk and mighty body, whose brilliance equals a million suns, please remove all obstacles from my path—now and always. Benefits: Chanting this mantra is like holding Lord Ganesha's hand through life's difficulties. It invokes his divine grace to clear hurdles, both seen and unseen, ensuring a smooth path in current and future endeavors. 3. Aum Ekadantaya Vidmahe, Vakratundaya Dhimahi, Tanno Danti Prachodayat Meaning: We meditate upon the One with a single tusk (Ekadanta) and a curved trunk (Vakratunda). May that tusked Lord awaken and guide our intellect. Benefits: When you're clouded by self-doubt or struggling with important decisions, this mantra becomes a prayer to Bappa for mental clarity, focused thought, and inner guidance. It strengthens your connection to divine wisdom. 4. Om Namo Siddhi Vinayakaya Sarva Karya Kartrey Sarva Vighna Prashamnay Sarvarjaya Vashyakarnaya Sarvajan Sarva Stree Purush Aakarshanaya Shreeng Om Swaha Meaning: I bow to Lord Siddhi Vinayaka, the giver of success in all endeavors, remover of obstacles, grantor of victory and influence, and the one who draws love, respect, and goodwill from all beings. Benefits: If you're entering a new chapter in life, whether it's a new job, business venture, relationship, or home—this mantra blesses you with Ganesha's compassionate energy to make the impossible possible. It brings success, attraction, and favor from those around you. Final Thought: Lord Ganesha's mantras are not just sounds, they're vibrations of divine grace. When chanted with devotion and regularity, they can bring about powerful transformations in your inner and outer life. Choose the mantra that resonates with your journey and let Bappa guide your path. This article is written by Rajini Dubey. Discover everything about astrology at the Times of India , including daily horoscopes for Aries , Taurus , Gemini , Cancer , Leo , Virgo , Libra , Scorpio , Sagittarius , Capricorn , Aquarius , and Pisces .
The National
27-01-2025
- Politics
- The National
Archaeologists eye return to Syria after years of 'unbelievable' damage
For Michael Danti of the University of Pennsylvania, the two decades before the civil war in Syria were 'a golden age' for his archaeological work there. From 1990 to 2011, Dr Danti, who is also a consulting scholar at Penn Museum, directed projects in Syria's northern Raqqa province, spending much of his time living in a village and immersed in the cultural heritage of a nation blessed with several important archaeological riches. 'Syria had it all: deep antiquity – ancient Mesopotamia, the early origins of villages and writing, development of complex societies, all the way up to incredible Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine remains,' he said. 'And [there was] spectacular Islamic architecture from the early periods of the Umayyad caliphate up to the modern era. If you're interested in the Mediterranean or the ancient Near East, I couldn't think of a better place to work as an archaeologist, except for maybe certain parts of Iraq.' With its extraordinary attractions, Syria attracted cultural tourists with a well-developed infrastructure of hotels, tour companies and knowledgeable guides. Then, in 2011, when civil war broke out, 'Almost overnight it just blew up,' according to Dr Danti, who has yet to return to the country. There has been 'unbelievable' damage to Syria's cultural heritage through 'theft, demolition and destruction by neglect'. 'Not only did you have regular combat damage, but you also had the deliberate targeting of heritage by ISIS, the Assad regime, Russians. Everybody was blowing things up, targeting it deliberately one way or the other,' said Dr Danti, who runs a US State Department-funded project to document and prevent the theft of cultural property. 'There was so much deliberate targeting, a lot of it for propagandistic purposes. Beyond that, everything was being stolen. If it wasn't nailed down or too heavy to transport, they were stealing it. Thousands and thousands of valuable antiquities have been slowly wending their way on to the illicit market.' He said the illegal trafficking of cultural heritage objects is part of wider transnational criminal activity involving human trafficking, illegal drugs and arms dealing. On top of the actual damage to cultural heritage, Dr Danti said there had been many false allegations of damage to cultural heritage to stoke tensions. 'There's a lot of disinformation, particularly around cultural heritage, because it's a great way to foment ethno-sectarian violence and destabilise things,' said Dr Danti. The fall of the Assad regime, however, offers hope that the looting of Syria's cultural heritage can be better controlled. According to archaeologists with experience working in Syria, Hayat Tahrir Al Sham recognises the value of cultural heritage. Most within the new regime 'have open minds', according to Adnan Al Mohamad, a Syrian archaeologist who is an honorary research fellow in the Department of History, Classics and Archaeology at Birkbeck College, University of London. Mr Al Mohamad, who was last in Syria in 2016, has been in contact with officials at Syria's Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums and hopes to assist reconstruction efforts either from outside or within his home country. He said sites in areas under the control of the interim government are unlikely to be subject to deliberate destruction of the kind carried out before. 'In general all the archaeological sites under the control of the new government, it's safe [from intentional destruction], but we need to ensure there are not any mines or weapons, explosives,' he said. More than a decade of civil war has left the country starved of expertise: hundreds of Syrian archaeologists, like Mr Al Mohamad, left the country, while opportunities for others to be trained by taking postgraduate degrees in foreign universities dried up. 'All the nuts and bolts of running an antiquities inspectorate have gone,' said Prof Graham Philip, of the Department of Archaeology at Durham University in the UK. 'So they need training, they need funding. Salaries for the antiquities authority are very low. But what we have heard is that the new regime is not hostile to antiquities. They understand that antiquities are of value for Syria … They're not like the Taliban or ISIS.' His Durham University colleague Dr Kristen Hopper, an assistant professor in archaeology on the Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa Project, indicated that those archaeologists who remained in Syria faced significant challenges. 'Some of them used to work for the DGAM, some of them worked at universities, and I think they're the people who have the tough job now, as they're the ones who are on the ground to be able to rebuild these institutions,' she said. The EAMENA project, a collaboration between the UK universities of Durham, Leicester and Oxford, has, until now, been working with non-governmental organisations within Syria to promote preservation and monitoring efforts, including by using satellite imagery, but was unable to co-operate with the DGAM, as it was a government entity. 'We don't yet know how things are going to pan out, but we do know that there's a lot of these NGOs, civil society groups that are going to keep doing this work and, hopefully, as the country opens up a bit more there's going to be more opportunity to bring people together across greater areas,' Dr Hopper said. While some international archaeological groups operated in Syria under the Assad regime – something that Prof Philip said was a cause of controversy – researchers expect numbers to increase under the new government. The extent to which this happens will depend on how the situation with the new government develops, but Prof Danti expects that Syria will become more open. 'I think over the next few years, if the security situation continues to improve, there will be a real emphasis on getting the international community back in to work side by side with Syrian stakeholders to do excavations, restorations, the full range of cultural heritage preservation and protection,' he said. ' … There are amazing sites still there and huge amounts of cultural heritage that's easily preserved or rebuilt, expertly rebuilt.' Another hope is that Syria could again attract cultural tourists. They were a vital source of revenue, something that would incentivise the new government to look after cultural heritage. Prof Philip, who led tour groups in Syria before the civil war, said the infrastructure of hotels, tour companies and local guides, needed reassembling, and the security situation – once a draw for visitors because of the lack of petty crime – would have to be restored. 'Getting that kind of order back will be essential,' he said. 'Most Syrians will want tourists because it creates thousands of jobs.'
