One of the greatest glories of the Hindu religion is the worship of multiple deities in various forms, while still believing in the Single All Pervading Soul—The Brahman or the Absolute. The most popular of the deities amongst all sects of Hinduism is Ganesha or the Elephant headed God. Throughout the Indian subcontinent and in South East Asia , Hindus invoke His name in prayer before any other. He is Vigneshwara or the Remover of obstacles, and thus all Hindus look to Him before all else. All auspicious events begin with an invocation to this deity. All rituals that dot the life of a Hindu, are preceded by obseicance to Ganesha.

“Gajaananam bhoothaganaadhi sevitham
Kapitha jamboo phalasara bhakshitam
Umaasutham shoka vinaasha kaaranam
Namaami Vigneshwara paada pankajam.”
(Sanskrit prayer –unknown age)

“To the elephant-faced One, served by the hordes of ganas,
Who loves the wood-apple and the juice of the rose-apple,
Who is the son of Uma and the Destroyer of sorrow,
Do I bow to the lotus feet of this Vigneshwara,
The Lord of Obstacles.” (6)

Ganesha is the embodiment of Vaak, the Word, and is therefore the fountainhead of wisdom. A child’s education begins with a prayer to Ganesha . To philosophers, He represents OM, the sound of the Brahman , also known as Pranava, the sound from which the world emanated.

THE ORIGINS OF GANESHA

In significant contrast to His present popularity, Ganesha does not find a place of prominence amongst the major Hindu deities of the early Vedic period . While there is reference to an elephant headed God in the Rig –Veda (2000 BC), it is believed that it is not Ganesha who is the object of piety. Only in the later Vedic period of Taittiriya Aranyaka (1000 B.C) that there is mention of ‘Dantin’, vakra- tunda (One with a twisted trunk and who holds a sheaf of corn, sugar cane and a club). (1) Excavations in Western Iran have revealed a plaque, dated to the same period, that carries an elephant headed figure (6). This corresponds to the period of the great Indian Epic “The Mahabharata”, of which Ganesha is supposedly the scribe. There is good reason to believe that Ganesha of today had His origins in the religious beliefs of the early tribal people of ancient India and in Tantric sects. It must be understood that the Hindu religion, as is understood the world over, is a collation of the beliefs of many tribes and peoples and therefore caters to both the highly philosophical and also to the ordinary masses. The persons of high intellect are able to understand the concept of the Nirguna Brahman, or the Absolute without form. However for most this is incomprehensible, and therefore Saguna Brahman, with form and attributes came into existence. Many of the early tribes had totemistic deities and others had many armed ones with attributes depending on the specific power of the deity.

The names Ganapathi or Ganeswara, (Lord of the ganas) were initially not attributed to Ganesha . It is believed that Ganesha was initially venerated as an aspect of Shiva (The Destroyer of Evil – one of the Hindu Trinity). Ganas ,or attendants of Shiva were benevolent spirits. They were in contrast to the vinaayakas, or malevolent spirits. Legend has it that a group of four vinaayakas merged into one and the latter was appointed by Shiva as Lord of the Ganas (Gana-pathi) and Ganapathi-Vinaakaya .(1) There are some who believe that Ganesha was an original Dravidian tribal God. It is significant that the Dravidian words “pallu” and “pella” both mean ‘tooth’ , tusk of the elephant. While the Tamil name for Ganesha , “Pillaiyar”, is taken to mean “the Noble Son”, there are some who are of the opinion that the word “pille” originally meant ‘young of the elephant’, as does the Pali word “pillaka”, which signifies “of a young elephant”. (6) As the ancient tribes started food production through agriculture, it was but natural that they turn to nature’s largest creation on land, the elephant, a mammoth herbivorous being , for inspiration. Ganesha thus became an important God of the harvest, especially of sugarcane growers, and is seen carrying the plant as well as modaka , sweets made from the same. He was given the rat or mouse as a vehicle -- perhaps because the latter was the farmer’s greatest enemy. Therefore there came into being the larger than life elephantine deity sitting incongruously on a mooshika or mouse. This incongruity of size, also seen in other icons, was probably intentional, to place on record without any doubt the superiority and supremacy of the deity over the mouse. Ganesha was therefore most likely a folk deity who was elevated to the present position as late as the 5th century AD (6).

IMAGES OF GANESHA

The earliest known sculptures of Ganesha, where He is on his own, are from Sri Lanka and Mathura in north India (1st and 2nd century AD). (6) From the 8th century AD, there was a change in the Ganesha icon, both in form and its importance. Seen before as a small figure attending on other major deities, Shiva in particular, He was placed in a separate niche and shrine of His own, particularly in the Deccan and South India. This position of importance soon spread to the whole of the subcontinent.

Images of Ganesha are now found everywhere, on streets and pavements, at the entrance to villages, houses, temples, as carvings on pillars and even under the banyan tree. Most commonly He is seated, but may also be presented standing , or, dancing (Nrithya Ganesha). The seated Ganesha normally has his left leg folded and the right leg hanging down to the floor level. Rarely He may be portrayed in the yogic form with both legs folded in the “lotus position”. He is most often seen seated or standing on a throne –like seat, a carved plank or on a lotus. A mouse , lion or rarely a multi-headed snake lie at His feet.

Perhaps most important of all is His adaptability of form. He may be worshipped in any form, even as a triangular pyramid of turmeric. Ganesha’s unique feature, besides his elephant head is his large belly. Across His chest is the sacred Bramanical thread. He is often associated with a snake which maybe seen across his belly or in the place of the sacred thread. Normally Ganesha is shown with four arms, in which are held various articles depending on the role He plays, and the attributes to each incarnation. There are 32 main forms in which He is represented including Bala-Ganapathi (the child Ganesha), Veera Ganapathi (the Warrior), Shakti Ganapathi ( Powerful Ganesha), Heramba Ganapathi (Protector of the weak) and Nrithya Ganapathi (Dancing Ganesha). (6)