Shri Ganesh

Who Shri Ganesh is

Ganesha is the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati. He is worshipped as the remover of obstacles (Vighnaharta) and as the lord of beginnings, invoked first before any undertaking: a new business, a wedding, an exam, a house-warming, even the writing of a scripture. Almost every puja, whatever deity it is for, begins with a prayer to him. He is also the patron of learning and the arts, and one of the five deities of the Smarta panchayatana worship.

How he got his elephant head

The best-known version comes from the Shiva Purana. Parvati shaped a boy from the turmeric paste on her body and set him to guard her door while she bathed. When Shiva returned and the boy would not let him in, Shiva cut off his head in the fight that followed. Seeing Parvati's grief, Shiva sent his attendants to bring the head of the first creature they found, an elephant, restored the boy to life and made him leader of his hosts (ganas): Ganapati. The Brahmavaivarta Purana tells it differently: the child lost his head to the gaze of Shani, the version followed in the Ganesh Chalisa.

Other stories told of him

• Circling his parents: when Shiva and Parvati set a race around the world between Ganesha and his brother Kartikeya, Kartikeya set off on his peacock. Ganesha simply walked around his parents, saying they were his whole world, and won.
• The scribe of the Mahabharata: he agreed to write down the Mahabharata as Vyasa dictated it, on the condition that Vyasa never pause. Tradition says he broke off his own tusk to use as a pen when his stylus failed.
• The moon's curse: when the moon laughed at Ganesha tumbling off his mouse, Ganesha cursed him. That is why it is considered unlucky to look at the moon on the night of Ganesh Chaturthi.

Symbols and names

His large belly is said to hold the whole universe, his big ears to listen well, and his single tusk to stand for keeping what is good and giving up the rest. He loves modak sweets. His vehicle, curiously, is a small mouse (Mushak), a deliberate contrast showing that even the largest being can be carried by the humblest, and that no obstacle is too small or too large for him. His names include Vinayaka, Ganapati, Gajanan (elephant-faced), Lambodar (large-bellied), Ekadanta (one-tusked), Vakratunda (curved trunk) and Siddhivinayak (giver of success).

How he is worshipped

His day is Wednesday (see Wednesday Ganesh Bhakti). His favourite offerings are durva grass (traditionally 21 blades), modak or laddoos, red flowers and shami leaves. Tulsi is traditionally not offered to him. The aarti Jai Ganesh Deva opens most household pujas, whichever deity the day's worship is centred on, and the Ganesh Gayatri Mantra is a short daily practice. Many keep the Sankashti Chaturthi fast each month, on the fourth day of the waning moon, breaking it after sighting the moon.

Festivals and temples

Ganesh Chaturthi, on the fourth day of the bright fortnight of Bhadrapad, is his great festival. Clay idols are installed at home and in public pandals for one and a half to ten days, then immersed (visarjan) on or before Anant Chaturdashi. Lokmanya Tilak turned it into a public festival in 1893. Famous temples include Siddhivinayak in Mumbai, Dagdusheth Halwai in Pune, the eight Ashtavinayak temples of Maharashtra, Khajrana in Indore, and the Ucchi Pillayar temple on the Rockfort in Tiruchirappalli.