  We will look at the Catalan numbers from the {\it Rigged Configurations}
point of view originated \cite{Kir} from an combinatorial analysis of the Bethe
Ansatz Equations associated with the higher spin anisotropic Heisenberg models
. Our strategy is to take a combinatorial interpretation of Catalan numbers
$C_n$ as the number of standard Young tableaux of rectangular shape $(n^2)$, or
equivalently, as the Kostka number $K_{(n^2),1^{2n}}$, as the starting point of
research. We observe that the rectangular (or multidimensional) Catalan numbers
$ C(m,n)$ introduced and studied by P. MacMahon \cite{Mc}, \cite{Su1}, see also
\cite{Su2}, can be identified with the Kostka number $K_{(n^m),1^{mn}}$, and
therefore can be treated by Rigged Configurations technique. Based on this
technique we study the stretched Kostka numbers and polynomials, and give a
proof of `` a strong rationality `` of the stretched Kostka polynomials. This
result implies a polynomiality property of the stretched Kostka and stretched
Littlewood--Richardson coefficients \cite{KT}, \cite{Ras}, \cite{Ki1}. Another
application of the Rigged Configuration technique presented, is a new family of
counterexamples to Okounkov's log-concavity conjecture \cite{Ok}. Finally, we
apply Rigged Configurations technique to give a combinatorial prove of the
unimodality of the principal specialization of the internal product of Schur
functions. In fact we prove a combinatorial formula for generalized
$q$-Gaussian polynomials which is a far generalization of the so-called
$KOH$-identity \cite{O}, as well as it manifests the unimodality property of
the $q$-Gaussian polynomials.
