Ganesha

For other uses, see Ganesha (disambiguation).

Ganesha (Gaņeśa)
Devanagari	गणेश

In Hinduism, Ganesha is one of the most well-known and beloved representations of God. As the lord of beginnings and eliminator of obstacles, he is said to be the most worshipped divinity in India. Traditionally he is honored with affection at the start of any ritual or ceremony, even by devotees of other Hindu deities. Whether it is diwali puja, a new vehicle, students praying before exams, beginning a business venture, sessions of bhajan (devotional chanting), or taking a trip, it is Ganesha they pray to. Throughout India and the Hindu culture, Ganesha is the first icon placed into any new home or abode.

It is widely believed that "Wherever there is Ganesha, there is Success and Prosperity" and "Wherever there is Success and Prosperity there is Ganesha". He is the Lord of Obstacles both of a material and spiritual order. He is capable of placing obstacles in the path of those who need to be checked, and can remove blockages just as easily. By calling on him people believe that he will come to their aid and grant them success in their endeavour. He also is considered the master of intellect and wisdom.

The popularity of the devotional cult of Ganesha is widely diffused, even outside of India.

Some of his devotees identify Ganesha as the Supreme deity and are called the Ganapatya (Sanskrit:गाणपत्य; gāņapatya). Their principal scriptures are the Ganesha Purana, the Mudgala Purana, and the Ganapati Atharvashirsa, all of which identify Ganesha as the Supreme embodiment of Brahman.

He is called by many other names, including Ganapati. The Hindu title of respect 'Shri' (Sanskrit:श्री; śrī, also spelled Sri or Shree) is often added before his name.

Etymology and other common names

The name Ganesha (Sanskrit:गणेश; gaņeśa; ) (also spelled as Ganesa and Ganesh) is a Sanskrit compound, joining the words gana (Sanskrit:गण; gaṇa) meaning a group, multitude, or categorical system + isha (Sanskrit:ईश; īśa) meaning lord or master. The word gana in association with Gaņeśa is often taken to refer to the gaņas, a troop of semi-divine beings that form part of Lord Śiva's retinue. The term more generally means a category, class, community, association, or corporation. So some commentators interpret the name "Lord of the Gaņas" to mean "Lord of created categories" such as the elements, etc. The translation "Lord of Hosts" may convey a familiar sense to Western readers. The name Ganapati (Sanskrit:गणपति; gaṇapati) is a synonym, being a compound composed of गण + पति (pati, ruler or lord).

Like other devas (Hindu male deities) and devis (female deities), Ganesha has many other titles of respect or symbolic names, and is often worshipped through the chanting of the Ganesha Sahasranama, which literally means "a thousand names of Ganesha". The Ganesha Sahasranama is part of the Ganesha Purana, a Hindu scripture that venerates Ganesha. Each name in the sahasranama conveys a different meaning and symbolises a different aspect of Ganesha.

The name Vināyaka is a common name for Ganesha both in the Purāṇas and in Buddhist Tantras. This name is reflected in the naming of the famous eight Ganesha (aṣṭavināyaka) temples in Maharashtra.

The name Vignesha ("Lord of Obstacles") refers to his primary function in Hindu mythology as being able to both create and remove obstacles (vighna).

Iconography

Ganesha figures show wide variation with distinct patterns changing over time.

This statue of Ganesha was created in the Mysore District of Karnataka in the 13th century.

The figure shown to the right is typical of Ganesha statuary from the early medieval period, after Ganesha had been well-established as an independent deity with his own cult. A virtually identical statue has been dated as (973-1200) by Martin-Dubost. It shows some of his most universal iconographic elements. He has the head of an elephant, a big belly, and carries some form of tasty delicacy in his left hand which he samples with his trunk. The statue has four arms. The right upper arm holds an axe, while the left upper arm holds a noose, symbols of his ability to cut through obstacles or to create them as needed.

Ganesha may be shown with anywhere between two and sixteen arms. The number of arms and what each hand carries has symbolic meaning, there being a large number of symbols in all. In modern depictions of Ganesha, it is most common to see him with four arms.

He may be represented standing, dancing, as a warrior in heroic action against demons, playing with his family as a boy, sitting down, or in a remarkable range of contemporary situations when depicted in festival displays.

The colors associated with Ganesha are most often red and yellow, but specific forms have other colors.

Bodily attributes

Every element of the body of Ganesha has its own value and its own significance:

• The elephant head indicates fidelity, intelligence and discriminative power;
• The fact that he has a single tusk (the other being broken off) is sometimes said to indicates Ganesha’s ability to overcome all forms of dualism. His name Ekadanta (One Tusk) refers to this attribute. In India an elephant with one tusk is sometimes called a "ganesh".

• The wide ears denote wisdom, ability to listen to people who seek help and to reflect on spiritual truths.

• His pot belly contains infinite universes. It signifies the bounty of nature and equanimity, the ability of Ganesha to swallow the sorrows of the Universe and protect the world;
• A hand turned towards the devotee is often in the gesture of don't be afraid (abhaya);

The mouse

Ganesha riding on his mouse. Note the flowers offered by the devotees. A sculpture at the Vaidyeshwara temple at Talakkadu, Karnataka, India

He is often shown riding on, or attended by, a mouse.

Mythological Anecdotes

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Image of Pune city god Shree Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati

Elephant head

The highly articulated mythology of Hinduism presents many stories which explain how Ganesha obtained his elephant head; often the origin of this particular attribute is to be found in the same anecdotes which tell about his birth. And many of these same stories reveal the origins of the enormous popularity of his cult.

Decapitated and reanimated by Shiva

The most well-known story is probably the one taken from the Shiva Purana. Once, while his mother Parvati wanted to take a bath, there were no attendants around to guard her and stop anyone from accidentally entering the house. Hence she created an image of a boy out of turmeric paste which she prepared to cleanse her body (turmeric was used for its antiseptic and cooling properties), and infused life into it, and thus Ganesha was born. Parvati ordered Ganesha not to allow anyone to enter the house, and Ganesha obediently followed his mother's orders. After a while Shiva returned from outside, and as he tried to enter the house, Ganesha stopped him. Shiva was infuriated at this strange little boy who dared to challenge him. He told Ganesha that he was Parvati's husband, and demanded that Ganesha let him go in. But Ganesha would not hear any person's word other than his dear mother's. Shiva lost his patience and had a fierce battle with Ganesha. At last he severed Ganesha's head with his Trishula (trident). When Parvati came out and saw her son's lifeless body, she was very angry and sad. She demanded that Shiva restore Ganesha's life at once.

Unfortunately, Shiva's Trishula was so powerful that it had hurled Ganesha's head very far off. All attempts to find the head were in vain. As a last resort, Shiva approached Brahma who suggested that he replace Ganesha's head with the first living being that came his way which lay with its head facing north. Shiva then sent his celestial armies (Gana) to find and take the head of whatever creature they happened to find asleep with its head facing north. They found a dying elephant which slept in this manner, and after its death took its head, attaching the elephant's head to Ganesha's body and bringing him back to life. From then on, he was called Ganapathi, or head of the celestial armies, and was to be worshipped by everyone before beginning any activity.

Shiva and Gajasura

Another story regarding the origins of Ganesha and his elephant head narrates that, once, there existed an Asura (demon) with all the characteristics of an elephant, called Gajasura, who was undergoing a penitence (or tapas). Shiva, satisfied by this austerity, decided to grant him, as a reward, whatever gift he desired. The demon wished that he could emanate fire continually from his own body so that no one could ever dare to approach him. The Lord granted him his request. Gajasura continued his penitence and Shiva, who appeared in front of him from time to time, asked him once again what he desired. The demon responded: "I desire that You inhabit my stomach."

Shiva granted even this request and he took up residence in the demon's stomach. In fact, Shiva is also known as Bhola Shankara because he is a deity easily propitiated; when he is satisfied with a devotee he grants him whatever he desires, and this, from time to time, generates particularly intricate situations. It was for this reason that Parvati, his wife, sought him everywhere without results. As a last recourse, she went to her brother Vishnu, asking him to find her husband. He, who knows everything, reassured her: "Don't worry, dear sister, your husband is Bhola Shankara and promptly grants to his devotees whatever they ask of him, without regard for the consequences; for this reason, I think he has gotten himself into some trouble. I will find out what has happened."

Then Vishnu, the omniscient director of the cosmic game, staged a small comedy. He transformed Nandi (the bull of Shiva) into a dancing bull and conducted him in front of Gajasura, assuming, at the same time, the appearance of a flutist. The enchanting performance of the bull sent the demon into ecstasies, and he asked the flutist to tell him what he desired. The musical Vishnua responded: "Can you give me that which I ask?" Gajasura replied: "Who do you take me for? I can immediately give you whatever you ask." The flutist then said: "If that's so, liberate Shiva from your stomach." Gajasura understood then that this must have been no other than Vishnu himself, the only one who could have known that secret and he threw himself at his feet. Having liberated Shiva, he asked him for one last gift: "I have been blessed by you with many gifts; my last request is that everyone remember me adoring my head when I am dead." Shiva then brought his own son there and substitued his head with that of Gajasura. From then on, in India, the tradition is that any action, in order to prosper, must begin with the adoration of Ganesha. This is the result of the gift of Shiva to Gajasura.

The gaze of Shani

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Statue of Ganesha photographed in London during the holiday of Diwali.

A less well-known story from the Brahma Vaivarta Purana narrates a different version of Ganesha's birth. On the insistence of Shiva, Parvati fasted for a year (punyaka vrata) to propitiate Vishnu so that he would grant her a son. Lord Vishnu, after the completion of the sacrifice, announced that he would incarnate himself as her son in every kalpa (eon). Accordingly, Krishna was born to Parvati as a charming infant. This event was celebrated with great enthusiasm and all the gods were invited to take a look at the baby. However Shani (Saturn), the son of Surya, hesitated to look at the baby since Shani was cursed with the gaze of destruction. However Parvati insisted that he look at the baby, which Shani did, and immediately the infant's head fell off and flew to Goloka. Seeing Shiva and Parvati grief stricken, Vishnu mounted on Garuda, his divine eagle, and rushed to the banks of the Pushpa-Bhadra river, from where he brought back the head of a young elephant. The head of the elephant was joined with the headless body of Parvati's son, thus reviving him. The infant was named Ganesha and all the Gods blessed Ganesha and wished Him power and prosperity.

Other versions

Another tale of Ganesha's birth relates to an incident in which Shiva slew Aditya, the son of a sage. Shiva restored life to the dead boy, but this could not pacify the outraged sage Kashyapa, who was one of the seven great Rishis. Kashyap cursed Shiva and declared that Shiva's son would lose his head. When this happened, the head of Indra's elephant was used to replace it.

Still another tale states that on one occasion, Parvati's used bath-water was thrown into the Ganges, and this water was drunk by the elephant-headed Goddess Malini, who gave birth to a baby with four arms and five elephant heads. The river goddess Ganga claimed him as her son, but Shiva declared him to be Parvati's son, reduced his five heads to one and enthroned him as the Controller of obstacles (Vigneshwara).

Broken tusk

There are various anecdotes which explain how Ganesha broke off one of his tusks.

Ganesha the scribe

In the first part of the epic poem Mahabharata, it is written that the sage Vyasa (Vyāsa) asked Ganesha to transcribe the poem as he dictated it to him. Ganesha agreed, but only on the condition that Vyasa recite the poem uninterrupted, without pausing. The sage, in his turn, posed the condition that Ganesha would not only have to write, but would have to understand everything that he heard before writing it down. In this way, Vyasa might recuperate a bit from his continuous talking by simply reciting a difficult verse which Ganesha could not understand. The dictation began, but in the rush of writing Ganesha's feather pen broke. He broke off a tusk and used it as a pen so that the transcription could proceed without interruption, permitting him to keep his word.!

This is the single passage in which Ganesha appears in that epic. The story is not accepted as part of the original text by the editors of the critical edition of the Mahabharata, where the twenty-line story is relegated to a footnote to an appendix. Ganesha's association with mental agility and learning is probably one reason he is shown as scribe for Vyasa's dictation of the Mahabharata in this interpolation to the text. Brown dates the story as 8th century AD, and Winternitz concludes that it was known as early as c. 900 AD but he maintains that it had not yet been added to the Mahabharata some 150 years later. Winternitz also drew attention to the fact that a distinctive feature of Southern manuscripts of the Mahabharata is their omission of this Ganesha legend.

Ganesha and Parashurama

One day Parashurama, an avatar of Vishnu, went to pay a visit to Shiva, but along the way he was blocked by Ganesha. Parashurama hurled himself at Ganesha with his axe and Ganesha (knowing that this axe was given to him by Shiva) allowed himself out of respect to be struck and lost his tusk as a result.

Ganesha and the Moon

It is said that one day Ganesha, after having received from many of his devotees an enormous amount of sweets (Modak), in order to better digest this incredible mass of food, decided to go for a ride. He got on the mouse which he used as his vehicle and took off. It was a magnificent night and the moon was resplendent. Suddenly a snake appeared out of nowhere and nearly frightened the mouse to death, causing it to jump and Ganesha was thrown off his mount. Ganesha's huge stomach smashed against the ground so forcefully that it burst open and all of the sweets that he had eaten were scattered around him. Nonetheless, he was too intelligent to get angry about this accident and, without wasting any time in useless lamentations, he tried to remedy the situation as best he could. He took the serpent which had caused the accident and used it as a belt to keep his stomach closed and bandage the injury. Satisfied by this solution, he remounted his mouse and continued his excursion. Chandradev (Moon God) saw the whole scene and laughed. Ganesha, being the short-tempered one, cursed Chandradev for his arrogance and breaking off one of his tusks, hurled it against the Moon, slashing its luminous face in two. He then cursed it, decreeing that anyone who happens to see the moon will incur bad luck. Hearing this, Chandradev realised his folly and asked for forgiveness from Ganesha. Ganesha relented and since a curse cannot be revoked, only softened it. Ganesha softened his curse such that the moon would wax and wane in intensity every fifteen days and anyone who looks at the moon during Ganesh Chaturthi would incur bad-luck. This explains why, in certain moments, the light of the Moon goes off and then begins gradually to reappear; but its face appears whole only for a brief period of time, since it is once again "broken" in half to the point of disappearing.

Head of the celestial armies

Statue of Ganesha with a flower

There once took place a great competition between the Devas to decide who among them should be the head of the Gana (the troops of semi-gods at the service of Shiva). The competitors were required to circle the world as fast as possible and return to the Feet of Shiva. The gods took off, each on his or her own vehicle, and even Ganesha participated with enthusiasm in the race; but he was extremely heavy and was riding on a mouse! Naturally, his pace was remarkably slow and this was a great disadvantage. He had not yet made much headway when there appeared before him the sage Narada (son of Brahma), who asked him where he was going. Ganesha was very annoyed and went into a rage because it was considered unlucky to encounter a solitary Brahmin just at the beginning of a voyage. Not withstanding the fact that Narada was the greatest of Brahmins, son of Brahma himself, this was still a bad omen. Moreover, it wasn't considered a good sign to be asked where one was heading when one was already on the way to some destination; therefore, Ganesha felt doubly unfortunate. Nonetheless, the great Brahmin succeeded in calming his fury. Ganesha explained to him the motives for his sadness and his terrible desire to win. Narada consoled and exhorted him not to despair.

Ganesha returned to his father, who asked him how he was able to finish the race so quickly. Ganesha told him of his encounter with Narada and of the Brahmin's counsel. Shiva, satisfied with this response, pronouned his son the winner and, from that moment on, he was acclaimed with the name of Ganapati (Conductor of the celestial armies) and Vinayaka (Lord of all beings).

His appetite

One anecdote, taken from the Purana, narrates that the treasurer of Svarga (paradise) and god of wealth, Kubera, went one day to Mount Kailash in order to receive the darshan (vision) of Shiva. Since he was extremely vain, he invited Shiva to a feast in his fabulous city, Alakapuri, so that he could show off to him all of his wealth. Shiva smiled and said to him: "I cannot come, but you can invite my son Ganesha. But I warn you that he is a voracious eater." Unperturbed, Kubera felt confident that he could satisfy even the most insatiable appetite, like that of Ganesha, with his opulence. He took the little son of Shiva with him into his great city. There, he offered him a ceremonial bath and dressed him in sumptuous clothing. After these initial rites, the great banquet began. While the servants of Kubera were working themselves to the bone in order to bring the portions, the little Ganesha just continued to eat and eat and eat.... His appetite did not decrease even after he had devoured the servings which were destined for the other guests. There was not even time to substitute one plate with another because Ganesha had already devoured everything, and with gestures of impatience, continued waiting for more food. Having devoured everything which had been prepared, Ganesha began eating the decorations, the tableware, the furniture, the chandelier.... Terrified, Kubera prostrated himself in front of the little omnivorous one and supplicated him to spare him, at least, the rest of the palace.

"I am hungry. If you don't give me something else to eat, I will eat you as well!", he said to Kubera. Desperate, Kubera rushed to mount Kailasa to ask Shiva to remedy the situation. The Lord then gave him a handful of roasted rice, saying that something as simple as a handful of roasted rice would satiate Ganesha, if it was offered with humility and love. Ganesha had swallowed up almost the entire city when Kubera finally arrived and humbly gave him the rice. With that, Ganesha was finally satisfied and calmed.

Ganesha's reverence for his parents

In most Puranic stories he is the first son of Shiva and Parvati.

Once there was a competition between Ganesha and his brother Karthikeya as to who could circumambulate the three worlds faster and hence win the fruit of knowledge. Karthikeya went off on a journey to cover the three worlds while Ganesha simply circumambulated his parents. When asked why he did so, he answered that his parents Shiva and Parvati constituted the three worlds, and was given the fruit of knowledge.

Devotion to his mother

While playing, once, Ganesha wounded a cat. When he returned home he found a wound in his Mother's body. He enquired how she got hurt. Mother Parvati replied that this was caused by none other than Ganesha himself! Surprised, Ganesha wanted to know when he hurt her. Parvati explained that She as Divine power was immanent in all beings. When he wounded the cat, she was hurt too. Ganesha realised that all women were veritable manifestations of his Mother. He decided not to marry. That's how he remained a brahmachari, a life-long celibate, following the strict rules of Brahmacharya. However, in some scriptures and images Ganesha is often portrayed as married to the two daughters of Brahma: Riddhi (Knowledge) and Siddhi (Perfection).

Other associations

Association with Aum

Om or Aum

Om or Aum

Ganesha is identified with the Hindu mantra Aum (ॐ, also called Om, Omkara, oṃkāra, or Aumkara). The term oṃkārasvarūpa ("Aum is his form") in connection with Ganesha refers to this belief that he is the personification of the primal sound.

This association is attested in the Ganapati Atharvashirsa. The relevant passage is translated by Courtright as follows:

You are Brahmā, Vişņu, and Rudra [Śiva]. You are Agni, Vāyu, and Sūrya. Your are Candrama. You are earth, space, and heaven. Yor are the manifestation of the mantra "Oṃ".

A variant version of this passage is translated by Chinmayananda as follows:

(O Lord Ganapati!) You are (the Trinity) Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesa. You are Indra. You are fire and air. You are the sun and the moon. You are Brahman. You are (the three worlds) Bhuloka, Antariksha-loka, and Swargaloka. You are Om. (that is to say, You are all this).

Some devotees see similarites between the shape of his body and the shape of Om in the Devanāgarī and Tamil scrips.

Association with first chakra

Ganesha is associated with the first chakra. This association is attested in the Ganapati Atharvashirsa. As translated by Courtright this passage reads:

You continually dwell in the sacral plexus at the base of the spine [mūlādhāra cakra].

A variant version of this passage is translated by Chinmayananda as follows:

You have a permanent abode (in every being) at the place called "Muladhara".

Married or celibate?

The issue of Ganesha's marital status and/or celibacy has been the subject of considerable scholarly review, and shows much variation. Four patterns of groupings of relationships are identifiable. The first pattern identifies Ganesha as never having married. The second pattern involves one or more of the following three concepts, which are sometimes personified as goddesses: Buddhi (intellect), Siddhi (spiritual power), and Riddhi (prosperity). All three of these concepts are associated with Ganesha, but they are not always personified as wives. A third pattern involves the goddesses Sarasvati (goddess of culture and art) and Lakshmi (goddess of luck and prosperity). A fourth pattern links Ganesha with the banana tree. Some of the differences between these patterns can be understood by looking at regional variations across India. Some differences relate to the time period in which the pattern is found. Some differences relate to the tradition in which the patterns are found, with Tantric texts being more likely to personify energies or potencies (Sanskrit:शक्ति; śakti, also spelled shakti) associated with Ganesha as feminine figures. Finally, some differences pertain to the preferred meditation form used by the devotee, with many different traditional forms ranging from Ganesha as a young boy (Sanskrit:बालगणपति; bālagāņapati) to Ganesha as a Tantric deity (Sanskrit:उच्छिष्टगणपति; ucchişţagāņapati).

Unmarried

According to tradition, Ganesha was generated by his mother Parvati without the intervention of her husband Shiva. Shiva, in fact, being eternal (Sadashiva), did not feel any need to have children. Consequently, the relationship of Ganesha and his mother is unique and special. This devotion is the reason that the traditions of southern India represent him as celibate (see the anecdote Devotion to his mother). It is said that Ganesha, believing his mother to be the most beautiful and perfect woman in the universe, exclaimed: "Bring me a woman as beautiful as she and I will marry her."

Bhaskaraya alludes to the tradition in which Ganesha was considered to be a lifelong bachelor in his commentary on the Ganesha Purana version of the Ganesha Sahasranama, which includes the name Abhīru (verse 9a). In his commentary on this verse Bhaskaraya says the name Abhīru means "without a woman", but the term can also mean "not fearful". Another allusion to bachelorhood appears in the name Sadyojātasvarṇamuñjamekhalī (Wearing a girdle of fresh, golden-colored muñja-grass, verse 18a). That type of girdle was worn by brahmacharins as a sign of being unmarried.

Buddhi, Siddhi, and Riddhi as "wives"

Ganesha with the Ashta (8) Siddhi. The Ashtasiddhi are associated with Ganesha. - painting by Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906)

In the Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana there are descriptions of him flanked by Siddhi and Buddhi. In these two Puranas they appear as an intrinsic part of Ganapati and according to Thapan do not require any special rituals associated with shakti worship. In chapter I.18.24-39 of the Ganesha Purana, Brahmā performs worship in honor of Ganesha, and during it Ganesha himself causes Buddhi and Siddhi to appear so that Brahmā can offer them back to Ganesha. Ganesha accepts them as offerings. In Ganesha Purana I.65.10-12 there is a variant of this incident, in which various gods are giving presents to Ganesha, but in this case Siddhi and Buddhi are born from Brahmā's mind and are given by Brahmā to Ganesha.

The best known Puranic source identifying Buddhi and Siddhi as his two consorts appears in the Shiva Purana (Śiva Purāṇa). In that version, Ganesha and his brother Skanda compete for the right to marry the two desirable daugters of Prajāpati, Siddhi and Buddhi, and Ganesha wins through a clever approach. This story adds that after some time Ganesha begat two sons: Kshema (Kşema) (Prosperity), born to Siddhi, and Lâbha (Acquisition, Profit) born to Buddhi. In Northern Indian variants of this story the sons are often said to be Śubha (Shubh) (auspiciousness) and Lābha.

In discussing the Shiva Purana story Courtright comments that while iconographically Ganesha is sometimes depicted as sitting between these two feminine deities, "these women are more like feminine emanations of his androgynous nature, Shaktis rather than spouses having their own characters and spouses." Ludo Rocher says that "descriptions of Gaṇeśa as siddhi-buddhi-samanvita 'accompanied by, followed by siddhi and buddhi.' often seem to mean no more than that, when Gaṇeśa is present, siddhi 'success' and buddhi 'wisdom' are not far behind. Such may well have been the original conception, of which the marriage was a later development."

The Ganesha Temple at Morgaon is the central shrine for the regional aṣṭavināyaka complex. The most sacred area within the Moragaon temple is the "womb-house" (garbhagŗha), a small enclosure containing an image of Ganesha. To the right and left sides of the image stand Siddhi and Buddhi.

In northern India the two female figures are said to be Siddhi and Riddhi; Riddhi substitutes for Buddhi with no Puranic basis. In verse 49a of the Ganesha Purana version of the Ganesha Sahasranama one of Ganesha's names is Ŗddhisiddhipravardhana "Enhancer of material and spiritual success", using riddhi and siddhi as abstract nouns. In the Matsya Purana Gaṇesha is identified as the "owner" of riddhi (prosperity) and buddhi. In discussing the northern Indian sources Cohen says that:

"They are depersonalized figures, interchangeable, and given their frequent depiction fanning Gaṇeśa are often referred to as dasīs -- servants. Their names represent the benefits accrued by the worshipper of Gaṇeśa, and thus Gaṇeśa is said to be the owner of Ṛddhi and Siddhi; he similarly functions as the father of Śubha (auspiciousness) and Lābha (profit), a pair similar to the Śiva Purāṇa's Kṣema (prosperity) and Lābha. Though in Varanasi the paired figures were usually called Ṛddhi and Siddhi, Gaṇeśa's relationship to them was often vague. He was their mālik, their owner; they were more often dasīs than patnīs (wives)."

His relationship with the Ashtasiddhi (the eight spiritual attaintments obtained by the practice of yoga) is also of this type. In later iconography these eight marvellous powers are represented by a group of young girls who surround Ganesha. A painting by Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906) shown to the right illustrates a recent example of this iconographic form, including the fans which establish the feminine figures as attendants.

In the Ajitāgama, a Tantric form of Ganesha called Haridra Ganapati is described as turmeric-colored and flanked by two unnamed wives. The word "wives" (Sanskrit:दारा; dārā) is specifically used (Sanskrit:दारायुगलम्; dārāyugalam). These wives are distinct from shaktis.

Buddhi (Wisdom)

In Sanskrit the word buddhi is a feminine noun that is variously translated as intelligence, wisdom, or intellect. The concept of buddhi is closely associated with the personality of Ganesha as of the Puranic period, where many stories develop that showcase his cleverness and love of intelligence.

One of Ganesha's names in the Ganesha Purana and in the Ganesha Sahasranama is Buddhipriya. The name Buddhipriya also appears in a special list of twenty-one names that Gaṇeśa says are of special importance at the end of the Ganesha Sahasranama. The word priya can mean "fond of" or in a marital context it can mean "a lover, husband". Where it appears alone the name Buddhipriya probably refers to Ganesha's well-known association with intelligence.

This association with wisdom also appears in the name Buddha, which appears as a name of Ganesha in the second verse of the Ganesha Purana version of the Ganesha Sahasranama. The positioning of this name at the beginning of the Ganesha Sahasranama indicates that the name was of importance. Bhaskararaya's commentary on the Ganesha Sahasranama says that this name for Ganesha means that the Buddha was an avatar of Ganesha. This interpretation is not widely known even among Ganapatya, and the Buddha is not mentioned in the lists of Ganesha's incarnations given in the main sections of the Ganesha Purana and Mudgala Purana. Bhaskararaya also provides a more general interpretation of this name as simply meaning that Ganesha's very form is "eternal elightenment" (nityabuddaḥ), so he is named Buddha.

The motif of a single shakti

A distinct iconographic type of Ganesha image shows him with a single human-looking shakti (śakti). According to Ananda Coomaraswamy the oldest known depiction of Ganesha with a shakti of this type dates from the sixth century AD. The consort lacks a distinctive personality or iconographic repertoire. According to Cohen and Getty, the appearance of this shakti motif parallels the emergence of tantric branches of the Ganapatya cult. Six distinct forms of "Shakti Ganapati" can be linked to the Ganapatyas. Of the thirty-two standard meditation forms for Ganesha that appear in the Sritattvanidhi (Śrītattvanidhi), six include a shakti.

A common form of this motif shows Ganesha seated with the shakti upon his left hip, holding a bowl of flat cakes or round sweets. Ganesha turns his trunk to his own left to touch the tasty food. In some of the tantric forms of this image the gesture is modified to take on erotic overtones. Some tantric variants of this form are described in the Śāradātilaka Tantram.

Agrawala has traced at least six different lists of fifty or more aspects or forms of Ganesha each with their specific female consorts or shaktis. In these lists of paired shaktis are found such goddess names as Hrī, Śrī, Puṣṭī, etc. The names Buddhi, Siddhi, and Riddhi do not appear on any of these lists. The lists provide no details about the personalities or distinguishing iconographic forms for these shaktis. Agrawala concludes that all of the lists were derived from one original set of names. The earliest of the lists occurs in the Nārada Purāṇa (I.66.124-38), and appears to have been used with minor variations in the Ucchiṣṭagaṇapati Upāsanā. These lists are of two types. In the first type the names of various forms of Ganesha are given with a clear-cut pairing of a named shakti for that form. In the second type, as found in the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa (II.IV.44.63-76) and the commentary of Rāghavabhaṭṭa on the Śāradātilaka (I.115), fifty or more names of Ganesha are given collectively in one group, with the names of the shaktis given collectively in a second group. The second type of list poses some problems in separating and properly connecting the names into pairs due to ambiguities in the formation of Sanskrit compound words.

Association with Sarasvati and Lakshmi

Popularly in north India Ganesha is accompanied by Sarasvati (goddess of culture and art) and Lakshmi (goddess of luck and prosperity), symbolizing that these qualities always accompany he who has discovered his own internal divinity. Symbolically this represents the fact that wealth, prosperity and success accompany those who have the qualities wisdom, prudence, patience, etc. that Ganesha symbolises.

Kala Bo

In Bengal, Ganesha on Durga Puja is associated with a banana (plantain) tree, the "Kala Bo" (also spelled Kalabou or Kolābau), ritually transformed into a goddess during the festival. Martin-Dubost defines the Kala Bo (Kolābau) as "the banana tree goddess .... worshipped every year in the villages of Bengal, during the great Durga festival in September-October. Martin-Dubost says that the etymology of the name Kolābau is from kolā (banana) + bau (young bride).

On the first day of Durga Puja the Kala Bo is taken for a bath to the Holy Ganges. Water from the Ganges accompanied with Dhak and Kanshi finishes the bathing ceremony. After the bathing ceremony she is draped with a red-bordered white sari and vermilion is smeared on its leaves. She is then placed on a decorated pedestal and worshipped with flowers, sandalwood paste, and incense sticks. The Kala Bo is set on Ganesha's right side, along with other other deities. For most who view her, the new sari indicates her role as a new bride, and many Bengalis see it as symbolizing the wife of Ganesha.

A different view is that the Kala Bo represents Durga herself, who in Bengal is considered the mother of Ganesha. Those who know of that tradition do not consider Ganesha's association with Kala Bo as a marital one. Haridas Mitra says that the Kala Bo is intended to serve as a symbolic summary for the nine types of leaves (nava patrika) that together form a sacred complex on Durga Puja. The officiating priests who carry out the ceremony tie a bunch of eight plants on the trunk of the plantain tree and it is the grouping of all nine plants that constitute the Kala Bo. The nine plants all have beneficial medicinal properties. According to Martin-Dubost, the Kala Bo does not represent a bride or shakti of Ganesha, but rather is the plant form of Durga. He connects the plant symbol back to the festival enactment of Durga's return of the blood of the buffalo demon to the earth so that the order of the world may be re-established and luxuriant vegetation reappear. He links Ganesha to to this vegetation myth and notes that Astadasausadhisristi (Aṣṭādaśauṣadhisṛṣṭi, "Creator of the eighteen medicinal plants") is a name of Ganesha.

A story goes that, when Ganesha was supposed to marry, one day when he came home, he saw his mother Durga eating with all her ten hands. Shocked, he asked why is she doing it. Durga replied that if, after Ganesha marries, his wife would not give Durga any food, so Durga is eating to her heart's content with all ten hands. Feeling very sad, Ganesha decided that he would marry a banana tree or Kala Bo so that her mother never has any worries about food, as a banana tree cannot stop her from eating.

Santoshī Mā

Ganesha has been depicted as an householder married to Riddhi and Siddhi and the father of Santoshī Mā, a new goddess of satisfaction, in the 1975 Hindi film Jai Santoshi Maa. The movie script is not based on scriptural sources. The fact that a cult has developed around the figure of Santoshi Mata has been cited by Thapan and Cohen as evidence of Ganesha's continuing evolution as a popular deity.

Worship of Ganesha and Festivals

The worship of Ganesha is considered complementary with the worship of other deities. Hindus of all sects begin prayers, important undertakings, and religious ceremonies with an invocation of Ganesha.

The "worship of the five forms" (pañcāyatana pūjā) system, which was popularized by the ninth-century philosopher Śaṅkarācārya among orthodox Brahmins of the Smārta tradition, invokes the five deities Ganesha, Vishnu, Shiva, Devī, and Sūrya. It was instituted by Śaṅkarācārya primarily to unite the principal deities of the five major sects (Gāṇapatya, Śaiva, Vaiṣṇava, and Sūrya) on an equal status. This formalized the role of Ganesha as a complementary deity. The monistic philosophy preached by Śaṅkarācārya made it possible to choose one of these as a preferred principal deity and at the same time worship the other four deities as different forms of the same all-pervading Brahman. Once Ganesha was accepted as one of the five principal deities of Brahmanism, some brāhmaṇas chose to worship Ganesha as their principal deity, developing the Ganapatya tradition reflected in the Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana.

Mantras such as Aum Shri Ganeshaya Namah (Om, salutation to the Illustrious Ganesha), and others, are often used. One of the most famous mantras associated with Ganesha is Om Gam Ganapataye Namah (literally, "Om, Gam, Salutation to the Lord of Hosts").

Immersion of Ganesh murti at Chowpatty Beach, Mumbai

In India, there is an important festival honouring Ganesha. While it is most popular in the state of Maharashtra, it is performed all over India. It is celebrated for ten days starting from Ganesh Chaturthi. This festival is celebrated and it culminates on the day of Ananta Chaturdashi when the murti of Ganesha is immersed into the most convenient body of water. In Mumbai (earlier known as Bombay), the murti is immersed in the Arabian Sea and in Pune the Mula-Mutha river. In various North and East Indian cities, like Kolkata, they are immersed in the holy Ganga river.

While the Ganapati festival is celebrated by Hindus throughout the Country with great devotional fervour, in Mumbai, the Country’s richest and most populated city, the festival assumes awesome proportions. On the last day of the festival, millions of people of all ages descend onto the streets leading up to the sea, dancing and singing, to the rhythmic accompaniment of drums and cymbals . The town of Pen in Raigad district of Maharashtra is famous for producing the most beautiful Ganesh murtis(idols). The skilled artists from this town make Ganesh murtis all around the year to meet the demand of the murtis in Ganesh festival.

Celebrations of Ganesh by the Indian and Sri Lankan Tamil community in Paris, France

History of Ganesha

Before Hinduism appeared in the Indian sub-continent, Ganesha was a tribal god, a fierce Yaksha guardian of the forests and their people. In those ancient times, he was propitiated as a Vignakarta, a creator of obstacles by whose grace alone one could survive in the treacherous tropical forests. Later, Ganesha found a prominent place in Shavite worship when the tribal cult of the elephant-headed god became assimilated into the religion of the farmers.

See also

• Ganesha Purana, includes a list of four Avatars of Ganesha
• Mudgala Purana, includes a list of eight Avatars of Ganesha
• Ganapati Atharvashirsa is a fundamental scripture of the Ganapatya
• Ganesha Sahasranama gives 1,000 names of Ganesha
• Sritattvanidhi,includes the list of the 32 Forms Of Ganesha
• Ganesha beyond Hinduism
• Ganapati temples

Further reading

Most of the source scriptures on Ganesha are in Sanskrit. A collection of useful documents can be found here. At the same site can be found some documents and translations in English here. There is a large body of academic literature related to Ganesha in English and in other modern languages.

• Brown, Robert L. Ganesh: Studies of an Asian God (State University of New York: Albany 1991). ISBN 0-7914-0657-1.
• Courtright, Paul B. Gaṇeśa: Lord of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings. (Oxford University Press: New York, 1985). ISBN 0-19-505742-2
• Krishan, Yuvraj. Gaņeśa: Unravelling An Enigma. (Motilal Banarsidass Publishers: Delhi, 1999) ISBN 81-208-1413-4.
• Martin-Dubost, Paul. Gaņeśa: The Enchanter of the Three Worlds. (Project for Indian Cultural Studies: Mumbai, 1997). ISBN 81-900184-3-4.
• Nagar, Shanti Lal. The Cult of Vinayaka. (Intellectual Publishing House: New Delhi, 1992). ISBN 81-7076-043-9.
• Pal, Pratapaditya. Ganesh: The Benevolent. (Marg Publications: 1995) ISBN 81-85026-31-9.
• Swami Satyananda Saraswati. Ganesha Puja. (Devi Mandir [Publishers]). ISBN 1-877795-46-1.
• Thapan, Anita Raina. Understanding Gaņapati: Insights into the Dynamics of a Cult. (Manohar Publishers: New Delhi, 1997). ISBN 81-7304-195-4.

External links

• Ganesh: Symbol and presence
• 108 names of Ganesh and meanings
• Ganesha: The Elephant-God
• Ganesha Chaturthi
• Ganesh Symbolism
• Devotional hymns and eulogies on Ganesha