On this Ganapati Festival, read all the previous articles on Ganapati- 

This is Utkarsh Speaking: Ganapati Festival

This is Utkarsh Speaking: Ganesh – Marriage 

This is Utkarsh Speaking: Ganapati – Harvest god 

This is Utkarsh Speaking: Ganapati – Names and Forms 

This is Utkarsh Speaking: Visarjan 

This is Utkarsh Speaking: Ganesha outside India 

and many more.....

Jim Carrey and Lord Ganesh

Hindus in Nevada, US, are up in arms against the portrayal of Lord Ganesh in a sex act on NBC’s Saturday Night Live (SNL), titled “The Wrath of Ganesh”, in which Jim Carrey (remember ‘The Mask’?) is part of the offensive skit. (Times of India - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/news/Hindus-upset-with-Jim-Carrey-NBC/articleshow/7303312.cms)

The outcry is not unexpected just as it is not for the first time. Earlier, we have had Ram-Sita on underwear, other gods on slippers, etc. The Western world has a penchant to shock and titillate none but themselves. The desire to shock and court controversy is inherent in many, and if one can use the sacred in that, then eye-balls are guaranteed. Should we worry?

The Western world has always been obsessed with Ganesha and has forwarded numerous theories about the sexual connotations of the trunk. Ganesha, Shiva, Kali, etc. are some of the favourite with a group of Indologists who have worked very hard to give theories which display their own depravity and short-sightedness and their inability to see the inherent symbolism, which is so poetic.

Democracy, they say is a funny animal. Allow and you can go berserk, stop and you can be accused of stifling creativity. Ban, is a bad word and in the name of creativity and alternate studies, one can get away theorising whatever you want to. As if Democracy was not enough, you now have Internet, to transmit anything that you want to, to scores of unknown viewers and readers. That such media and ideology adds to ones sense of responsibility is lost out on majority of the people.

Should we object? Yes and No.

Yes, by objecting we make a statement that such acts cannot be tolerated as the matter is sacred. Yes, because, not objecting to it could be seen as an act of meekness and could lead to more trouble and further acts of such profanity. Yes, for lack of objection, we might allow the perpetrators of ‘intellectual terrorism’, to take us hostage. Yes, because, by such objections, we can try to educate them and help them see the light of the day. Yes, thru the objections, we can show them the true symbolism behind such gods and their mythical acts.

No, because such profanities do not lead to any major damage as our cultural foundations are stronger. No, because, Hinduism, is not a religion, it is a way of life and every facet is so ingrained in each and every practitioner of this ‘way of life’ that such comments are nothing more than a small speck of dust on an elephant’s back. No, because, prior to this many an Indologist, has tried to ‘re-interpret’ our pantheon, but have not managed to do much damage.  No, because it brings out the depravity in such comments of the speaker, and if s/he wants to bask in the glory of one’s stupidity, it should not be our problem. No, a pre-occupation with the Indian mystic, but inability to comprehend is understandable!

Whichever way one looks at it, such acts should not bother anyone beyond a point. However, it still does call for a vote of thanks to Rajan Zed who is leading the protest for a public apology. According to Zed – “Lord Ganesh was highly revered in Hinduism and was meant to be worshipped in temples and not to be thrown around loosely in reimagined versions for dramatic effects on TV series for mercantile greed.” (as reported in Times of India dt. 18/01/11).

Ganesha outside India

(With Anant Chaturdashi, we come to the end of the 10-day Ganapati festival. The following is my last article on Ganapati, for the time being, as the subject is so vast that one never knows when once again, I might want to write on Ganesha!)


Ganesha, though is a young god in the Hindu pantheon, his popularity rivals that of Shiva, Vishnu and other gods and goddesses. The Ganapati cult has also its followers in other parts of the world, especially in countries that were influenced by Buddhism. In many of the Asian countries, inscriptions, idols, etc. were found which bear testimony to the worship.

The worship of Ganesh was introduced in Japan around 9th century, by one Koloho Daishi. Ganesh here was worshipped as Kangi-ten of Daisho Kangi-ten (god of joy and harmony). Kangi-ten is not very famous today, but is secretly practiced by the Shingon sect. Representation of Kangi-ten is similar to the elephant-head god as we know, except that there is a difference. Kangi-ten is represented by two elephant-headed characters, one male and the other female, both facing each other and in an intimate embrace. This lends credence to the tantric roots of some branches of Buddhism. However, few representations show Kangi-ten without the female counterpart.

Mongolia too has seen some Ganesha worship. Temples have been found where four-handed Ganesh images have been found. Here too Ganesha has been seen in a similar form as above (Ganesha and Ganeshani) and is known to be fighting demons. In such images, he has always been shown with a radish in one of his hands, and in some, his vahana, the rat too has been depicted with a radish in its mouth.

Ganesha worship was also quite common in Burma, especially by the merchants. In Burmese language he is referred to as Mahapienne (great god), and merchants were known to carry small idols of the god whenever they travelled on work.

Similar worships were known to have taken place in all those areas which came under the spell of Mahayana Buddhism. There were difference myths woven to make stories where the Buddha and Ganesha were supposed to have interacted. The mythological intermingling is quite common as cultures started losing their borders.

Finally, the Roman god Janus. Janus was not an elephant headed god, but was a two headed god, one looking at the past and one towards the future, and thus the month of January is named after him. However, Janus like Ganesha, was worshipped at the beginning of all things, prior to planting and harvest, besides a host of auspicious moments, like birth, marriages, etc. This is the common aspect that Janus shares with Ganesha. Another similarity that can be inferred is that Janus was known to be a good of the gates, and Ganesha was created to guard the gates of Parvati.

Ganapati – Names and Forms

As we know, Ganapati has many names and some of them also imply a form. We already know about the most common ones like Ekdanta, Dhumravarna, Vinayaka, etc. already mentioned in some of the earlier articles.

Let us discuss some lesser known or seen forms of Ganesha –

Bala Ganapati – this is the child form of Ganapati with four arms. In his hands he carries a mango, a branch of a mango-tree, a stem of sugar-cane and a sweet.

Gajanana – is red in colour and is again a four armed form, mounted on a rat. He is supposed to have killed Lobha, who was the demon of greed.

Mayureshwar – this is a six arm form of Ganapati who is white in complexion and is seen riding a peacock. This might have some resemblance to his brother, Skanda or Kartikeya who is normally seen atop a peacock. In this form he battled the demon Sindur.

Mahatkota – is a ten armed form, seated atop a lion and shines like the sun. In this form Ganapati is supposed to have killed two demons, Narantak and Devantak

Vakratunda – is a form where Ganapati has a curved trunk and is generally seen atop a lion. In this form he is supposed to have battled the demon Matsara, who was the symbol of jealousy.

Vighnaraja – is a form where Ganapti is seen lying on the Shesha, the snake of eternity, in a form similar to Vishnu on Sheshanag. In this form, Ganapati is supposed to have defeated Mama, the demon of ego.

Bhalachandra – Here Ganapati is shown as wearing the crescent moon in his head

Vira Ganapati – is Ganapati as the hero, where he is shown as sixteen armed, in which he carries the trident, an arrow, an axe, a sword, the club, a pestle, a spear, a noose, etc. All signs of a warrior god.

Heramba Ganapati – is a five headed form riding a lion. In this form he has ten arms, which have a combination of both arms and other religious symbols like the rosary, etc.

Nritya Ganapati – is the dancing form of Ganapati with four arms.

Urdhva Ganapati – is the rising Ganapati. Here he is shown seated with his Shakti on his left thigh and has eight arms, once of which clasps the goddess. The end of his trunk is rolled around the right breast of the goddess.

Sankatahara Ganapati – is a ganapati seated on a large lotus with his Shakti and has four arms of which one of them holds a bowl of sugared rice (payasapatra)

The above are just a few of many forms of Ganapati, which have been included in different texts like the Ganesha Purana, Mudgala Purana, and other such texts which have recorded different myths eulogising an aspect of the deity and his escapades. Depictions of the form have been open to the artists imagination. Some of them have a strong resemblance to many a Puranic god and each has its own myth.

Ganapati – Ekadanta

Lord Ganesha is also known as Ekdanta (one toothed). There are a number of myths associated with him being one-toothed.

The most common one is do with the epic Mahabharata. Since sage Vyasa was going to recite a poem of epic proportions he asked Lord Ganesha to write it for him. But Ganehsa’s condition was that he would write only if it was recited uninterruptedly. The sage countered with his condition that he would do so if and only if Ganesha understood what he wrote. This way, Vyasa would take a breather by reciting a difficult verse! Anyways the dictation began and while writing, his pen broke. To avoid a delay, Ganesha broke off one of his tusk and continued to write.

Down South the prevalent belief is that ploughing first began with Lord Ganesha ploughing with the help of one of his tusks. One more instance of the Lord’s association with harvest.

In some other reference it is said that Lord Ganesha lost one of his tooth in a battle with Parshurama (Vishnu’s avatar), when Parshurama’s axe hit him on one of his tusks.

Ganapati – The Chief of the Ganas

The name Ganapati comprises of two words, ‘gana’ and ‘pati’. Amongst the numerous meanings of the word ‘gana’ the one that comes close to is that laid down by Wilson - "a flock, a multitude, a troop, a tribe or class, etc.” Subsequent authors like MacDonnell and others too accepted this definition. The word ‘pati’ means chief. Collectively Ganapati could imply a tribal chief or a chief of a tribe. To take this explanation, the same could go on to imply a tribal deity.

In the Rig Veda, the word ‘gana’ appears many a times in both its original form as well as derivatives. The word ‘gana’ has also been referred to Maruts. Maruts were the sons of the Vedic god Rudra and were the constant companions of the Vedic Indra. Maruts were handsome young spirits and ferocious warriors, who were integral to Indra’s army during his battle with Vrtra the demon. However, the word Ganapati in the Vedic times then refers to the chief of the ‘gana’s, which is Indra himself here. So was Ganapati another name of Indra in Rig Veda?

It is important to mention here that the Vedic Rudra was precursor to the later day Puranic Shiva and it is this relationship that continued to stick to the relationship of Ganesh (aka Gana, Marut) and Shiva.

The above is another example of evolution of gods in mythology. Some gods lose their followers and supporters and new gods take their place or lesser gods get prominence. An analysis will show that the Vedic gods in due course took a back-seat and the Puranic gods came to the fore-front.

Ganapati's Vahana The Rat

Let us understand the origin/relevance of Ganesha’s vahana, the rat or the Mushika.

Ganapati is referred to as the Mushhak Vahan, or the rider of the rat. As we have seen that Ganesha is a harvest deity and the rat is one of the major problems of a farmer. Rats are known to devour the farmers produce and having a deity who rides a rat, is seen as someone who can control the menace that a rat is, for the farmers. Ganesha is known to have conquered the menace and riding the vanquished is a very common motif in our mythology (Krishna dancing on the serpent Kaliya, Shiva riding the bull, etc.). Riding the rat also depicts the control Ganesha exerts on the devastative power of the rats on crops.

Continuing with the same logic, Mushhak also means thief and the title Mushhak vahan also implies the lord who rides on the field rat, who is also the thief of the field.

The rat is also an animal that multiplies rather rapidly, is again symbolic of fertility and its productive power. The rat’s association with the harvest god, Ganesha could collectively symbolise the significance of a bumper crop brought in by the arrival of the god.

According to some scholars, a study of ancient India shows that there was the rule of Matanga (elephant) dynasty. There is a mention of a King of Kharvela of Kalinga who during the third quarter of the first century BC is supposed to have attacked the city of Musikas. Ancient India saw such dynasties with the totems of elephants and rats and there are records of the elephant dynasty being victorious over the rat dynasty. We can safely surmise that it is not entirely impossible to depict such aspects of history into mythological references of the conquered yielding to the conqueror.

Ganapati – Harvest god

Ganapati by many is considered to be a Harvest god. His association with harvest might not be too prevalent to us today, but if we trace the origins of the faith, we can see the association of Ganapati with vegetation and harvest.

Some scholars feel that the familiar sight of a farmer carrying bundles of corn with the lower ears of corn swinging to and fro resembled a lot with the head of an elephant and its long snout hanging. This led to the idea of a bumper crop overriding the menace of the rats might have taken the expression of a god with the head of an elephant riding a rat, with the god being pot-bellied – resembling a barn, surrounded by a snake, which is again the destroyer of the rats.

Ganesha is also referred to as the ‘Surpakarna’ and ‘Ekdanta’. The meaning of ‘surpa’ or the ‘supa’ is actually the ‘winnowing basket’. Also some references of ‘Ekdanta’ are with that of the ploughshare. Both the references are with harvest, and thus the association with a harvest deity.

The other reference of being a harvest deity is that of the rat. The rat is a menace for the farmers and Ganesha is seen riding the rat, implying that propitiating the god can lead to a control of the rat menace, which is a major source of problems for the farmers. We will discuss the significance of the rat in a later article. However, it is pertinent to mention a ritual followed in certain parts of Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra, India. There is a special day called the ‘Under Bi’, i.e. the second day of the rat. On this day, food is offered to an idol of a mouse which is worshipped along with Ganesha. The food offerings made to the idol on that day is the next day, thrown in the fields for the field mice to eat, and spare the standing crops.

Again the chief offerings the god is modak which is a sweet made out of sweet rice, sugar and coconut, again all things bearing a strong association with harvest.

The time of the celebrations and some of the rituals bear a very strong association with Harvest and thus Ganapati’s association with Harvest.

Ganapati - Birth Part 2

The Myth of Gajasura

A very interesting myth exists about Ganesha’s elephant head – the myth of the demon Gajasura.

As the myth goes, Gajasura – elephant headed demon was doing a very strict penance to seek blessing from Lord Shiva. Shiva granted him a boon as his satisfaction from the penance. Gajasura, asked that he be able to emanate fire from his body, so that nobody could dare come near him. Shiva granted the wish.

Gajasura continued his penance and Shiva would occasionally come and grant him his wishes. Finally Gajasura asked that Shiva inhabit his stomach and quite obviously Shiva granted the wish without thinking of the consequences. Soon Shiva was missing from his abode and Parvati was getting restless with the absence. Parvati then approached Lord Vishnu for help.

Lord Vishnu figured out soon regarding the whereabouts of Lord Shiva. He then devised a plan and took the form of a flautist and got Shiva’s Nandi bull to become a dancing bull. Together they performed in front of Gajasura who was so impressed by the performance that he granted a wish to the flautist – “anything you desire”. Lord Vishnu immediately asked for the release of Shiva.

Gajasura immediately saw thru the charade, but released Lord Shiva as promised. However, he asked for one last wish from Shiva. He said that he would want people to love him and his head should be remembered for ever after his death. Lord Shiva then got his son Ganesha there and substituted his head with that of Gajasura. This was one last gift by Shiva to Gajasura.

Ganesh – Marriage

There seem to be different versions of Lord Ganesha’s family. Was he married, and if so who were his wives? Let’s see the details of his wives and his family.

Popular myth says, that Lord Ganesha was married to two daughters of Prajapati, Siddhi (wealth) and Buddhi (wisdom). This could be symbolic of the fact that propitiating the Lord could help mortals attain both wisdom and wealth. Amongst the pantheon, goddess Lakshmi is associated with wealth and goddess Saraswati is associated with wisdom (learning), but then some myths say that both were Ganesha’s sisters! Coming back to Siddhi and Buddhi, his wives, both give birth to two sons – Shubh (auspiciousness) of Siddhi and Labh (merit) of Buddhi.

In some temples in North, his two wives are referred to as Riddhi (prosperity) and Siddhi, however, there are no significant textual references of Riddhi available.

Another popular myth says that Santoshi Ma (goddess of satisfaction), was Ganesha’s daughter. Again no textual references have been made available except the famous movie by the name of ‘Jai Santoshi Ma’.

A very famous representation by Raja Ravi Verma, shows Lord Ganesha with Ashtasiddhi, representing the eight spiritual attainments obtained by the practice of Yoga. According to Ganesha Purana, these Ashtasiddhis are personified to attack the demon Devantaka. Sometimes all of them are united as a single shakti of Ganesha.

In South a popular myth says that Ganesha was a celibate due to a curse by his mother Parvati. According to the myth, Ganesha was asked as to what kind of woman would he like to have for a wife. His response was a woman like his mother (like a true Indian son!). He is supposed to have said - "Bring me a woman as beautiful as she and I will marry her." This is supposed to have angered Parvati as she felt that he was seeing his mother in a manner inappropriate for a son (does this smack of a reference to the Greek Oedipus Complex?), and thus curses him to be a celibate for life. Some other references say that he was a celibate as he wanted to pursue the path of spiritual wisdom. He is thus also referred to as Abhiru, meaning “without a woman”.

In Bengal, during the Durga Puja, Ganesha is worshipped along with a banana tree (kala bou) as his consort. Not much is available in terms of details of the origin of the banana tree as a consort, except that it could be his association with vegetation as he is also seen as a harvest deity. But on a lighter note, one can also associate the banana tree with an elephants love for bananas!

Ganapati – Birth

The birth of Ganapati has its own myths. However there seem to be quite a few of them in the texts.

The most common one was that of Parvati giving birth to Ganesha all by herself, i.e. with the help of Shiva (thus also referred to as Vinayaka – ‘vina’ i.e. without; ‘nayaka’ i.e. male principle). Once Parvati wanted to go for a bath and so she created a child from her ‘ubtan’, i.e. turmeric paste (and thus Ganesha is also referred to as Dhûmravarna, "the Lord with a tawny colour") with instructions not to allow anybody inside the house. As luck would have it, Shiva returned from somewhere and Ganesha stopped him, unknown to him that Shiva was his father (though not biological). To cut short the whole story, a battle ensued between the two and Ganesh was beheaded by Shiva. Later, on realising the mistake, an elephant’s head was attached to the body of the child Ganesha. This is the most common and well-accepted myth from Shiva Purana.

Staying on with Parvati, another myth says that once the used bath-water of Parvati was thrown into the river Ganga, which in turn was drunk by the elephant-headed Goddess Malini. In due course of time, she gave birth to a baby with four hands and five elephant heads. Goddess Malini claimed the child to be hers, but Siva declared the child to be Parvati’s. Shiva then reduced the five heads to one and thus was born the elephant-headed god.

Still another myth says that once Shiva had slain Aditya, a son of Sage Kashyapa. Though Shiva restored the dead son, it did not pacify the sage who cursed him that his son would lose his head too. When this happened with Ganesha later, the head of Indra’s elephant was used to stick to the body of the child.

A lesser known myth says that a child was born to Parvati after a long tapa, penance. All the gods were invited by Shiva and Parvati to see and bless the child. All gods blessed the child except Shani dev. He did not want to look at the child as his gaze could harm the infant. But Parvati insisted that he see the child. But as is known, Shani’s gaze was so severe, that one look at the child and the child’s head gets severed. Lord Vishnu immediately mounted Garuda and flew to the Pushpa-Bhadra river and got the head of a young elephant and joined it with the body of the child Ganesha. This myth, though lesser known, is documented in Brahma Vaivarta Purana.

Ganapati Festival

The 10-day Ganapati Festival starts across Maharashtra from today. Though Ganapati was predominantly a Harvest deity, and also a household deity, it took the form of ‘sarvajanik utsav’ (community celebrations), due to the efforts taken by Bal Gangadhar Tilak as a part of the freedom movement.

Tilak was a Maharashtrian Brahmin and was an active member of the Freedom movement as believed in the concept of self rule. One of his contributions was to invoke religious sentiments through religious celebrations. The Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations initiated by Tilak got the sense of unity amongst the Hindus in Maharashtra and more important gave an opportunity for the freedom fighters to meet and discuss, as the British had illegalised such gatherings as they could incite violence.

Though the concept and the rationale of such celebrations have seen sea-changes from Tilak’s vision, and the celebrations today are both big in proportions and money. Over the next 10 days we will see some facets of Ganapati which is a cult and also see some popular and not-so-popular myths centred on the great god, who has numerous names.