GANESHA is probably the most loved God of modern Hinduism. He is omniscient and all pervading. His form arouses intense devotion and brings a smile of joy. Ganesha is invoked at the beginning of any endeavour, when one embarks on any task, for he is the fountainhead of knowledge and the remover of obstacles. Accompanied by his vehicle the mouse and with his huge paunch, his rotund figure and his elephantine head, He bestows prosperity, knowledge and progeny, and brings success and salvation.

Ganesha is invoked before any prayer or ritual. Nothing auspicious can take place without Him. A child begins his education with a prayer to Ganesha’; every marriage ceremony starts with a prayer to Him. Whether one is laying the foundation stone of the building or starting an industry or inaugurating something, Ganesha is invoked to remove all obstacles on one’s path. Many Ganesha images under trees, on lonely roads and mountain paths, are a comfort for travellers who stop and pray to this God. From birth to death, a Hindu invokes Ganesha at every ceremony.

It is believed that the present Universe was created and the present age Shweta-varaha-kalpa dawned when Ganesha appeared ‘dancing in great abandon, blowing the conch, through which the sound of the Om emanated’ to recreate a new world after the pralaya, the great deluge.

Ganesha’s popularity cuts across cults, castes, sects and even creeds; in several parts of India it is common to perform a prayer to Ganesha before commencing any business and actively participate in his birth festivities.

Many artists have painted and sculpted their vision of Ganesha. However, it is not the qualities of the God that have attracted them, but his figure: the voluminous elephant head and pot belly, the small, sharp eyes and short legs, the whole presenting a study in contrast, made rich by embellishment.

He is addressed in hymns and prayers by many names – sometimes eight, sometimes twelve, sometimes sixteen and sometimes thirty two. Most popularly, he is called Ganapati or Ganesha, lord of the ganas or host of spirits; Gajanana, the one with the face of an elephant; Vakratunda, of the twisted trunk; Ekadanta, having but one tusk; Lambodara, one with a fat belly; Vikata, of the monstrous figure; Vighnaraja and Vighneshwara, the remover of obstacles; Vighnaharta, the destroyer of obstacles; Vinayaka, lord of heroes; and Sumukha, of the auspicious and pleasant visage. The Tamils have their own special name for him – Pillaiyâr, the revered and noble son. Whatever the name by which He is addressed, his devotees depend upon Him for removing obstacles and granting success in all their endeavours.

 

The earliest reference to Ganapati as the Lord of the ganas is in the Rig Veda (before 3000 BCE),¹ where it is an epithet of Brihaspati² and Indra,³ who are addressed as the Lord of the ganas. However, there is no indication whether that Ganapati had an elephant head. The Taittiriya Aranyaka (around 1500 BCE) refers to Dantin (the tusker) with the twisted trunk (vaktratunda) who holds a sheaf of corn, sugarcane and a club.⁴ This is Ganesha as we know him. Ganas are small hardy spirits, like yakshas. Ganesha as the lord of ganas was the lord of the spirit world whom he kept in check as Vigneshwara, who overcomes obstacles. The root gana means to count and Ganapati could be the lord of countless ones, the countless spirits that troubled the ancient world. The name Dantin was probably the original name of Ganesha because in the languages of South India, where he is very popular, he is called Pillaiyâr, which is not unlike the words pallu and pella which mean teeth, while in Pali, pillaka means a young elephant.

It is believed that Ganesha was the scribe to whom Sage Vyasa dictated the Mahabharata. Ganesha agreed to the request that he should take it down, but on the condition that Vyasa should dictate it without a pause. Vyasa agreed but said Ganesha should understand every word and thought and its implications before writing it down. Whenever Ganesha had completed writing, Vyasa would dictate a verse with very complex meanings so that Ganesha could ponder over it and he would get time to compose the next stanzas. Ganesha wrote the epic, the longest epic in the world, using his broken tusk as a quill or pen.⁵ 

It is interesting that this legend is the earliest known form of the elephant-headed figure. Excavations carried out in Luristan (western Iran) revealed a plaque containing an elephant-headed figure dressed as a warrior, holding a sword and snake in one hand, a quill in another. The trident is to one side and at his feet is a snake. The figure also appears to be bearded, a sign of great wisdom (as in the rishis of India, the magi of Persia, etc.) The quill too was a symbol of learning and knowledge. This plaque has been dated to between 1200 and 1000 BCE⁶ (fig.1). The resemblance to Ganesha is remarkable: Ganesha is a scribe; he was born holding a trident, which is also an attribute of his father, Lord Shiva; the snake is tied around his waist or protects him.

Afghanistan had several Ganesha figures. The earliest is probably one from Sakar Dhar (formerly Shankar Dhar), North of Kabul, where Ganesha wears a yajnopavita (sacred thread) made of a snake (fig.2). The left tusk is broken and his two lower arms rest on two curly haired ganas, not unlike the ayudha purushas of the Gupta temples at Deogarh. Another early Ganesha figure from Afghanistan was a Maha-Vinayaka at Gardez (fig.3). The figure was later removed to the dargah Pir Rattan Nath at Kabul where it was worshipped by local Hindus. There is an inscription saying that, ‘This great and beautiful Maha Vinayaka was consecrated by the renowned Shahi King, the illustrious Shahi Khingala.’⁷ 

The Mânavgrihyasûtra (500 BCE) describes four folk deities, the Vinayakas. The Yâjnavâlkyasmriti (300 to 500 CE) reduces them to one Vinayaka, son of Ambika (Parvati) who is appointed leader of the ganas and worshipped as Ganesha. Animal-headed figures are found in Indian folk traditions before they were adopted by Vedic Hinduism.

Ganesha was born when the divine couple Shiva and Parvati contemplated on the pranava mantra (cosmic sound) Aum (Om). That is why Ganesha is called Omkara and worshipped first. His body also lends itself to the figure Om (fig. 4).

Ganesha as we know him today developed in the Puranic period, with the rise in importance of the Ganapatya cult. In fact, so total was his absorption that by the seventh century CE, Adi Shankara, the great philosopher, included the worship of Ganapati as one of the six systems (shanmata) of Hindu religion.

The absorption of Ganesha was achieved through legends and stories in the various Puranas, which refer to the miraculous birth of Ganesha, especially the miracles by which he acquired the elephant head.

A popular one is that he was created by Parvati while going for her bath, out of the dust and oil on her body. She asked him to guard the entrance while she was having her bath. Shiva came to visit Parvati and was refused entry. In anger, Shiva cut off Ganesha’s head. Parvathi was so grief-stricken that Shiva sent his ganas or hordes to bring the head of a being with its head facing the north, as it signified wisdom. The ganas brought the head of an elephant. Shiva fixed it on to Ganesha and thus was born the elephant-headed God.⁸ 

There are many other legends relating to Ganesha. One narrates how Ganesha was Shiva’s maanasika putra, born out of his mind. He was a beautiful and radiant child. But Parvati was angry that he was born without her intervention, and willed that the head should turn into an elephant. But she fell in love with the boy when she saw him and stated that no enterprise would succeed without a prayer to him.⁹ In the Nepalese tradition, Ganesha is self-manifested or swayambhu, who became visible in the rays of the sun, hence he is called Surya vinayaka.¹⁰

Another legend tells us how Parvati underwent severe penance to have a child and as a result Ganesha appeared in her chamber. He was so beautiful that she invited the nine planets to greet him. But, when Shani (Saturn) looked at Ganesha, his head got separated from his body. Shani’s jealous wife had laid a curse that anyone he looked at with admiration would be destroyed. Witnessing Parvati’s grief, Vishnu brought the head of an elephant (actually a Gandharva, a celestial being, who thus got released from his earthly life) and attached it to Ganesha.¹¹

 

There is the much-loved story of how Ganesha won the coveted fruit of knowledge and immortality from his parents. One day, as Shiva and Parvati were playing with their two sons Ganesha and Kartikeya, they took a divine fruit (some stories call it a ball of sweet) and told the boys that it contained the nectar of supreme knowledge and immortality and, since both of them wanted it, the one who circled the world three times and came back first would get it as a prize. Kartikeya got on to his peacock vehicle and flew away. Ganesha knew that he could never beat Kartikeya in speed. In his wisdom, he recognized that Shiva and Parvati were the Universe itself; he walked around them three times, with great devotion. When his parents asked him why he was not circling the globe, he answered that his parents – Shiva and Parvati – were the whole world. Naturally, he won the fruit. This story illustrates the wisdom of the elephant-headed god.¹²

Yet another story is about Ganesha and the moon. The moon laughed at Ganesha as he was riding home on his mouse after feasting heavily on modaka (a sweet he loved). The mouse tripped on a snake and Ganesha fell. His stomach burst open and the sweets spilled out. As Ganesha picked up the snake and tied it around his broken waistline, the moon laughed. He was so angry with the moon that he threw his broken tusk at him and cursed that he would never shine. When appealed to by the gods, he relented saying that the moon would wax and wane instead, every fortnight. Since the moon aroused Ganesha’s ire, it is not considered lucky to see the moon on Ganesh Chaturthi day.¹³

The appearance of the river Cauvery is also associated with Ganesha in a local folktale in Karnataka. Sage Agastya came down South after obtaining water in his kamandala (vessel used for holding water for worship). He called out to a boy (Ganesha in disguise) passing by and asked him to hold the vessel while he went to search for a spot from where the river could flow. Ganesha left the vessel in an ideal spot he had chosen. A crow upset it and a river began to flow from that place – the Talakaveri in Coorg.

According to South Indian tradition, during his war with Gajamukha-sura, the demon with a face of an elephant, Ganesha broke his right tusk, threw it at the demon, and cursed him to change into a rat. Then he got on to the back of the mouse and made it his vehicle, thereby keeping the demon under his control.¹⁴ However, the Ganesha Purana has another story which is more plausible: rats were devouring the grains, clothes and books in the hermitage of Sage Parashara, who became desperate. To help the sage, Ganesha caught the rat with his noose and made it his mount.¹⁵

In South Indian tradition, Ganesha is a god who has remained single, for he seeks a consort who can equal his mother Parvati in beauty and perfection. In the North, he has two wives – Siddhi (achievement) and Buddhi (wisdom) or Riddhi (prosperity). They were the daughters of Vishwaroopa. This marriage symbolizes the importance of wisdom and success in removing obstacles. The case of his brother Kartikkeya, the other son of Shiva and Parvati, is the reverse: Kartikkeya has two wives in the South while he is a bachelor in the North. Obviously, the marital status of the two brothers has been confused.

The Ganesha icon may be a tiny cone made of turmeric powder mixed with water and placed on a betel leaf. Or it may be a natural stone or tree trunk with a vague resemblance to an elephant’s head. Or it may be any object that is covered with sindoor (vermillion) and worshipped as Ganesha. He may be placed beneath a tree or on a wall, or enthroned in a huge temple. There is no Hindu deity as accommodating as Ganapati (fig. 5).

An enthroned male figure with an elephant’s head on a round silver coin of the Indo-Greek King Hermeus (50 BCE) could be a Ganesha, although there is no inscription to identify the figure. An elephant-eared figure on a coping at Amaravati (200 CE) beneath a long garland held up by ganas, now in the British Museum, London, could be another. At Mihintale in Sri Lanka, he appears as a two-armed figure on a frieze in the Kantaka Cetinga Stupa (1st-2nd century CE.) (fig. 6).

Early Ganesha figures belonging to the 3rd to 5th centuries are found in North India, before and during the Gupta period, as in Fatehgarh (fig. 7), Mathura (fig. 8), and Deogarh (fig. 9), Uttar Pradesh; Udayagiri, Bhumara and Ramgarh, Madhya Pradesh; Samalaji in Gujarat (fig. 10). Early Ganeshas are generally two-armed and placed at the temple doorway, so that devotees may pay obeisance before entering.

In the South, Ganesha first appears as a two-armed figure in the 6th century cave temple at Badami (fig. 11), a two-armed figure dipping into a bowl of ladoos (sweets). It is also in the Chalukyan temple at Aihole that Ganesha’s association with the Saptamatrikas first appears (fig. 12), an association that has lasted till today in village shrines all over central and southern India. In fact, the early Chalukyas of Central India probably promoted the worship of Ganesha. The Ganesh image of the Vatapi (modern Badami) temple was much coveted and later carried away by the Pallavas. Vatapi Ganapati is still the subject of several poems and classical Carnatic music compositions in all the southern languages. This is understandable since he was an agricultural god who blessed the sugarcane harvest, and sugarcane has been a major produce of the Deccan plateau.

In the Chalukyan cave temple at Badami appeared the first dancing Ganesha, carried away by the magnificence of his father Shiva’s tandava (fig. 13). The later Cholas of Thanjavur took the dancing Ganesha to great heights (fig. 14), but it was in Orissa that the Nritta Ganapati reached artistic perfection (fig. 15).

The worship of Ganesha reached its height in Maharashtra. The Ashta Vinayak (fig. 16) – Mayureshwar, Chintamani, Mahaganapati, Siddhivinayak, Vighneshwar, Girijatmak, Balleshwar and Varadvinayak – are all situated in villages around Pune, the seat of Shivaji, the Peshwas and Maharashtrian culture, which travelled around the Deccan during the Maratha period.

 

Ganesha holds a sheaf of corn, sugarcane and club, according to the Taittiriya Aranyaka. Later, the axe and moolaka (a bulbous radish-like root eaten by elephants) were included. As a God of the Deccan farmers, he holds a sugarcane, a modaka (a sweet offering of the harvest) or a sweet ladoo and his broken tusk, which could also have agricultural associations in its resemblance to the plough.

He also holds an elephant goad (to prod man on the path of righteousness) and a noose (to convey that worldly attachments are a noose). The axe is one of the weapons he wields for destroying demons and vanquishing evil. However, giving the elephant-headed God the goad and the noose is dramatic irony, for these are the tools used to torture, subjugate and tame the elephant.

The mouse is his vehicle, for Ganesha was a god of harvest and was revered by farmers to protect their fields from rodents. There are several Puranic stories of how the animal came to be Ganesha’s vehicle. But whatever the story, the purpose of making the rat his vehicle was to keep the animal, whose nuisance value is high, under his control.

The snake is also associated with the icon of Ganesha, either as a sacred thread or wrapped around the stomach as a belt, hung around the neck or held in his hand, coiled at his feet or canopying him from above.

The earliest elephant-headed figure in Ceylon is the gana carved on the Kantaka Cettinga stupa near Mihintale. Ganesha was sculpted on the Shiva temple at Polonnaruva, the ancient capital. The Tamils are generally Hindus and Shaivites, whose temples have any number of Pillaiyars.

The happy dancing Ganesha became a violent Tantric figure in Nepal, where the mouse vehicle is replaced by Shakti’s lion as Ganesha’s vehicle. A popular figure in Mahayana Buddhism, Ganesha’s sculptures are found in Tibet and Nepal where, says a local legend, Ashoka’s daughter Charumati built a temple in his honour. Ganapati hridaya is a mantra which, the Nepalese believe, was taught to Ananda by the Buddha at Rajagriha. The earliest Ganeshas in Nepal belong to the eighth century. Vinayaka dances, a rat or lion under each foot, multi-armed, carrying several Tantric symbols including a radish, and is canopied by the snake. This form is also found in Mongolia, where Ganesha was taken by the Tibetan monk P’agspa. In Tibet, Ganesha is placed above the entrance of Buddhist monasteries or painted on the doors. In these countries he often holds the trident and is identified with Shiva. Today, the five-headed Heramba and the snake-hooded form are the most popular forms in Nepal.

 

Ganesha was once very popular in Khotan (Chinese Turkestan), painted on wooden panels and bronze tablets at Khaklik, the Endere stupa and rock-cut temples of Bezaklik. Here too the God holds a radish, and is sometimes dressed in a tiger skin, reinforcing his identification with Shiva. Importantly, his head was framed by a halo, establishing his divinity.

From Khotan, Ganesha reached China fairly early. The earliest Chinese image of Ganesha is found at Kunghsien, a two-armed seated figure holding a lotus and the chintamani (jewel). Dated on the basis of inscriptional evidence to 531 CE, this figure is the earliest dated image of Ganesha who is described as the ‘Spirit King of Elephants’. In a fresco found in the Tunhuang rock-cut caves, Ganesha is painted in the company of the Sun, Moon and the Navagrahas.

The Chinese and Japanese knew two forms of Ganesha: Vinayaka and Kangiten, the latter being a secret esoteric form of the deity. Derived from Tantric cults of Adi Buddha and Maha Vairochana, it was founded on the union of the Individual with the Universal Spirit. Kangiten consists of two Vinayakas embracing each other. The Chinese emperor Chen Tsung banned the worship of Kangten, but the cult continued in Japan where it was introduced by the Buddhist Kolso Daishi. Another form, Vajra Vinayaka or Kakuzencho, had three heads with three eyes like Trimukha Shiva, holding a sword, radish, sceptre and modaka. The Japanese Vinayaka, known as the King of Elephants, smiled and laughed and often sat on mountains.

 

In the Gupta period (circa fourth to sixth centuries), Ganesha travelled East – to Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and Borneo – with Hinduism and Buddhism. Many of the figures are distinctly different, with straight long trunks and three eyes, an attribute transferred from Shiva. In Burma, where several Hindu deities are worshipped in Buddhist pagodas, Ganesha was the Remover of Obstacles, better known as Mahapienne. A remarkable four-armed Ganesha from Pagan holds an axe, rosary and conch, seated Buddha-style in padmasana on a pedestal made up of a crocodile, tortoise and fish. Several figures were found in lower Burma, where Ganesha’s ability to remove obstacles was essential for local seafarers and where the immigrant Indian population revered him.

 

In Thailand, the Hindu Mon dynasty built several Ganesha temples. The early Ayuthia Ganeshas are beautiful figures. In the Hindu temple of Bangkok, Ganesha uses his broken tusk as a stylus while his left hand holds a manuscript. His reputation as a scribe had travelled to Thailand with the God and the epic Mahabharata.

The Hindu Khmer kingdom of Cambodia abounds with figures of Ganesha, with a reference to the God in an inscription of 611 CE. Vinayaka is generally two-armed and wears a snake yajnopavita. Champa (Laos) was a stronghold of Shaivism, resulting in several Ganesha images. Ganesha had three deep-set eyes like his father, and a cranial protrusion or ushnisha like the Buddha.

Shaivism was the dominant religion of ancient Indonesia. Although there was no separate cult of Ganesha, his skull-bedecked images decorate Shiva temples, the earliest dating to the sixth century. He is the guardian of river crossings in Java. Java and Bali saw a proliferation of Ganesha images. In the Hindu island of Bali, Ganesha became very popular in the 8th-9th centuries. Most Balinese Ganeshas are standing, with a third eye. In Djembaran in South Bali, Ganesha is seated on a throne surrounded by flames, like the Shigon Fudo fire spirits who took care of royalty after their death.

A Ganesha image of the 5th century was found at a cave at Kombeng in Borneo. Influenced by images of the Buddha, some images have an urna or protuberance between the eyes.

 

In the last hundred years, the Indian diaspora has taken this deity all over the world in every conceivable avatar. The variety of Ganeshes is a testimony to the fact that he is one deity who can be moulded to fulfil the imagination of the artist and devotee. He is the most up to date God, playing cricket with the Indian team, sending rockets to the moon or exploding nuclear devices at Pokharan. Or being a good son and brother, removing obstacles from the path of his devotees and conferring hope and wisdom on the upwardly mobile Indian.

How did Ganesha become the remover of obstacles, his most important quality? The elephant is the remover of obstacles in the forest. He cuts through the dense undergrowth, creating pathways for man and animal alike. Thus he removes obstacles. He digs holes in the ground, in search of water, creating ponds which hold rainwater and are waterholes for the entire animal population. The Deccan plateau is dependent on rainwater harvesting for its water needs. Thus he is a facilitator who provides water. He controls the rodent population, which is the farmer’s greatest enemy. All these attributes of the elephant contributed to making the elephant-headed Ganesha into Vighneshwara, the remover of obstacles.

The elephant, the world’s largest mammal, huge and powerful yet gentle and herbivorous, is associated with wisdom, memory and longevity. He is the ultimate protector, the preventer of mishaps and is a much loved animal. No wonder he is deified.

The sugarcane in his hand represents an important agricultural product. With the combination of the respected elephant figure, the festival was one of ancient India’s methods of using religion to conserve the ecology. But Ganesha also has an ecological message. The Deccan has always been dependant on rainfall, which was collected in man-made lakes, artificial tanks and wells. Every year, the lakes and tanks were desilted during the summer months. This had a dual advantage: they were well maintained, while the landless were given employment during the non-agricultural period. The clay left on the tank beds and outside the wells was used to make the Ganeshas, with eyes made of seeds of the Indian coral (Erythrina indica) tree. Traditionally, the clay Ganesha was never baked.

 

After the festival, the Ganesha images were immersed in the local lake, river, tank or well. Being unbaked, the clay would soften and dissolve, becoming one with the well, tank or river bed. The whole cycle was renewed the following year.

The popularity and public celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi – the birthday of Ganesha – was due to the personal effort of Lokamanya Balgangadhar Tilak who, in 1893, utilized the festival to speak out against British rule in India. He brought the deity out of the house and made him the focus of a community celebration and a socio-religious movement that was to shake the foundations of the British Empire, uniting Maharashtrians of all castes and hues. There it stayed till, in recent years, it has become a community festival all over India, with large community Ganeshas that have kindled the imagination of its creators and sponsors.

In recent times, the community worship of Ganesha has spread all over the country, particularly in the southern states where Ganesha is a popular deity. Today’s Ganeshas are baked, made with plaster of Paris, sometimes even strengthened with cement and RCC. Even an innocuous material like baked clay is eco-unfriendly. When these Ganeshas are immersed in water, they do not dissolve, and we see the ugly and painful sight of Ganeshas hacked to pieces. Worse, toxic paints are used to decorate them. The water is polluted and becomes a toxic hazard. In many places these are the only sources of drinking water. Lokamanya Tilak would not have approved.

 

Organizers of Ganesh mandalis must not make a beautiful festival into an ecological hazard. Ganesha is a celebration of agriculture, water conservation and India’s wildlife. We need to remind ourselves of this sacred tradition even while we celebrate the Ganesha festival.

 

* Unless stated otherwise, the source for much of this article is the book Ganesha...The Auspicious...The Beginning by Shakunthala Jagannathan and Nanditha Krishna. Vakil & Sons, Mumbai, 1992.

Endnotes:

1. The dating is based on recent scientific data proving that the Sarasvati, described as a great river in the Rig Veda, had dried up by 2500 BCE.

2. Rig Veda, II, 23, 1 ganaanaam tvaa ganapatim havaamahe.

3. Ibid, X, 112, 9.

4. Taittiriya Aranyaka, X,1,5; Maitrayani Samhita, II, 9, 1.

5. Mahabharata, Adiparva, 5-15. This attribute appears in the northern recensions only.

6. H. Heras, The Problem of Ganapati, frontispiece.

7. Shakunthala Jagannathan and Nanditha Krishna, Ganesha...The Auspicious... The Beginning, Mumbai, 1992, p. 55.

8. Siva Purana, 2.4.chapters 13-49.

9. Skanda Purana.

10. A. Getty, Ganesa, New Delhi, 1979.

11. Brahmavaivarta Purana, 3, Ganesha khânda, 12.

12. Siva Purana, 2.3 & 4; Padma Purana, 1 (Shrishthikhânda), 65.

13. Brahmavaivarta Purana. Puranic Encyclopaedia, Delhi, 1975.

14. Kalyana (Ganesa Anka), Gorakhpur, 1974, p. 180.

15. Ibid, pp. 329-330.