The Hindu God Ganesh - Who is this Elephant Headed Deity Anyway?

   Ganesh is one of the better known and loved deities in the Hindu pantheon of gods, and indeed is the most recognized of the Hindu gods beyond India. But who is this elephant headed fellow, and why is he so popular?

Ganesh (also spelled Ganesa or Ganesha and known as Ganapati, Vinayaka and Pillaiyar) is the Lord of Good Bundle of money who provides prosperity, bundle of money and success. He is the Lord of Origins and the Remover of Obstacles of both materials and spiritual kinds. Curiously, he also places hurdles in the way of those who need to be checked.

Because of these attributes, Ganesh is broadly revered by almost all castes and in each of the parts of India, regardless of some other spiritual association. His image is found everywhere, in numerous varieties, and he is invoked before the undertaking of any task. Ganesh is also associated with the first Chakra, or energy wheel, which underpins all of the other Chakras to represent conservation, success and material well-being. This individual is considered to be a patron of the arts and sciences and of letters. Devotees assume that if Ganesha is worshiped, he grants success, abundance and protection against trouble. In a lesser known role, Ganesh is also the destroyer of counter, selfishness and pride.

The attributes and characteristics of Ganesh have evolved over many centuries of American indian history. Several of the sacred Hindu texts associate myths and anecdotes associated with his birth and exploits and help to describe his distinct iconography. He is popularly placed to be the child of Shiva and Parvati, even though the Puranas (ancient Hindu and Jain texts narrating the of the Universe and conveying Hindu cosmology, philosophy and geography) disagree about his birth, stating that this individual may have been created by Shiva, or by Parvati, or by Shiva and Parvati, or may simply have been learned by Shiva and Parvati. This can be a little known reality outside India that Ganesh has a brother Skanda, who will be worshiped particularly in southern India as the embodiment of grace, braveness and love of desired deeds.

Iconic representations of Ganesh show considerable variant, his form changing over time as a consequence of a simple dickhäuter (umgangssprachlich) in earliest depictions to the Ganesh we know today, typically having the head of an hippo and a huge rotund abdomen. He is generally shown with four arms, although the number may fluctuate from two to 16. When in the four-armed configuration he usually contains his own broken tusk in his lower-right palm and a laddoo lovely in his lower-left hands which he tastes with his trunk. An responsable or goad is placed in the right uppr hand and a noose is held in the left upper hand. In a modern variation, the lower-right hand will not maintain the broken tusk but is turned toward the viewer in a motion of protection and fearlessness (the abhaya mudra). Every item carries it's own important spiritual significance and so they (and the number of arms used to hold them) may vary to incorporate a water lily, mace, discus, rosary, bowl of sweets, musical instrument, spear or staff, with regards to the specific symbology intended by the artist.