bhargavasarma {nirikhi krishna bhagavan}

During Ganesha Chaturthi festival we come across a unique custom especially in South India where, the devotees perform squats (sit-ups) holding their left ear with the right hand and right ear with the left hand.  Religiously this is done as a mark of respect and obeisance to the elderly God Sri Ganesha (Ganapathi).  This convention we come across not only during Ganesha Chaturthi festival but also whenever a devotee visits Sri Ganesha temple or worships Lord Ganesha. This action is referred to as Thorpikarnam or Thoppukarnam. In Telugu language it is called Gunjillu. In fact this is an ancient Indian culture that we come across in Gurukula system of education where Gurus (teachers) asks their pupils to practice this technique. Even most us would have come across in schools even today, teachers asking students to perform this action as a token of penalty for not performing homework or for not answering a question or for making noise in the class room. Let us see what i...