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By Jayaram V
1
Loving Ganesha: Hinduism's Endearing Elephant-Faced God is publish-
ed by Himalayan Academy
gods. Ganesha is also the first deity who awakens in our spiritual
meditation and guide us on the path. Lord Ganesha is worshipped
by almost every Hindu. Ganesha's statuses are found almost in
every temple, every village every household. In Hindu rituals and
worship, Ganesha is invariably worshipped first. We know
Ganesha by many names of which Vighnaraja is one because he is
the lord of obstacles.2 He also removes them when he deems fit.
So devout Hindus worship Ganesha before starting any new ven-
ture or project.
2
Vighna means obstacles and raja means lord
From the copious references available in the Puranas such as the
Skanda, Padma, Vamana, Brahmanda, Varaha and Mudgala pura-
nas, we can estimate the extent of Ganesha's popularity even in
earlier times. Historians believe that a prototype of Ganesha was
worshipped in prehistoric times outside the Indian subcontinent
in such faraway places as Afghanistan, Tibet, Mongolia, China,
Java, Iran, Cambodia, Borneo, Japan and Mexico. Images of
Ganesha were found in Afghanistan and also in Iran. The image of
Ganesha found at Luristan in Iran dates back to 1200 BC to 1000
BC. Many Ganesha type idols were also found in Mexico from ex-
cavations and ancient temple ruins.
Ganesha was popular in both China and Japan centuries ago be-
cause of his association with Buddhism. Buddhism easily inte-
grated Ganesha into their pantheon just as they admitted many
other Hindu deities with same names but different status. The
early Buddhists who went from the Indian subcontinent to spread
Buddhism in other countries introduced Ganesha to the followers
of the Buddha in China and from there the tradition moved to Ja-
pan. Subsequently in both China and Japan Ganesha gained pop-
ularity as a god who brought romance and good luck into people's
lives. According to Buddhist tradition the Buddha himself re-
vealed a mystic mantra called Ganapathihrdaya to his close disci-
ple Ananda at Rajagriha. Followers of the Mahayana Buddhism
allotted a specific place for Ganesha in their drawings of Manda-
las or mystic diagrams. In China as well as in Japan, Buddha was
worshipped in two forms. One was the traditional Ganesha with
the usual and familiar appearance and the other was a two faced
Ganesha standing opposite to each other. The laughing Buddha
who became popular in China shares some physical features with
Ganesha and is also associated with good luck and good fortune.
Symbolism of Ganesha
3. These shaktis denote his unlimited wisdom (buddhi), his power to grant health (pusti),
wealth and boons (siddhis) and his power to take away (riddhi) suffering and human attach-
ments.
Forms of Ganesha
The idols and temples of Ganesha are found all over the world.
We we have archeological evidence to suggest that he was wor-
shipped in some temples of northern India as early as first centu-
ry AD. The Ganapatyam lists 32 iconic forms of Lord Ganesha of
which 16 are considered to be the most popular. They are not dif-
ferent Ganeshas but personification of his various aspects and at-
tributes. There are idols and images of Lord Ganesha correspond-
ing to these 16 forms. In each aspect Ganesha is shown with spe-
cific color, shape, posture and a variety of objects in his hands.
Ganapathi is also symbolically worshipped in the form of a
kumbha consisting of a coconut sitting atop the mouth of a round
pot or vessel surrounded by five mango leaves. In some places
Ganesha is worshipped in the form of lingas, salagramas and
yantras. The swastika is also considered to be a symbol of
Ganesha because he is a god of luck and auspiciousness. The six-
teen forms of Ganesha are shown below:
Temples of Ganesha
16 Names of Ganesha
The End