Lord Ganesha

Ganesha and Ganapati both mean 'lord of the ganas', the attendants of Shiva. As Vighneshvara he is the lord of obstacles: he removes them from the path of the sincere and, tradition says, can place them before the proud. For this reason he is 'prathama pujya', the one worshipped first. Before any puja, wedding, housewarming, exam or business, Hindus begin with 'Shri Ganeshaya Namah', and account books and letters often open with his name.

He is also the patron of learning, writing and the arts, and is called Buddhipriya, lover of wisdom. His many names describe him: Vinayaka (the supreme leader), Gajanana (elephant-faced), Ekadanta (one-tusked), Lambodara (big-bellied), Vakratunda (curved trunk), Siddhivinayaka (granter of success), Mangalmurti (the auspicious one) and, in Tamil Nadu, Pillaiyar.

The Rigvedic hymn 'Gananam tva ganapatim havamahe' (Rigveda 2.23.1) was addressed to Brahmanaspati, lord of prayer; in later practice it is chanted to invoke Ganesha. The developed elephant-headed Ganesha appears in sculpture and texts from around the Gupta period, and the Puranas, the Ganapati Atharvashirsha and the Ganesha and Mudgala Puranas make him central.

Few images are as recognisable as Ganesha's, and each feature is used as a teaching, especially for children.

How Ganesha got his elephant head. In the Shiva Purana, Parvati shapes a boy from the turmeric paste and unguents of her bath and sets him to guard her door. When Shiva arrives, the boy, who does not know him, refuses him entry. In the fight that follows, Shiva's ganas and then Shiva himself strike off the boy's head. Parvati's grief and anger shake the universe, so Shiva sends his attendants to bring the head of the first creature they find, an elephant, and restores the boy to life, making him chief of the ganas and first to be worshipped. Other Puranas, such as the Brahmavaivarta, tell the story differently.

The scribe of the Mahabharata. According to a well-known account, the sage Vyasa asked Ganesha to write down the Mahabharata as he dictated. Ganesha agreed on the condition that Vyasa never pause; Vyasa asked in return that Ganesha understand every verse before writing it. When his pen broke, Ganesha snapped off his own tusk to keep writing. This episode appears in some versions of the Mahabharata's first book but not in the critical edition.

The race around the world. In a much-loved story, Shiva and Parvati promise a prize to whichever son circles the world first. Kartikeya sets off on his peacock, while Ganesha simply walks around his parents, explaining that they are his whole world. The story teaches reverence for parents and the value of wisdom over speed.

The moon's curse. Popular tradition says the moon laughed at Ganesha as he tumbled from his mouse, and Ganesha cursed him. For this reason many families avoid looking at the moon on the night of Ganesh Chaturthi.

Ganesha is the son of Shiva and Parvati and the brother of Kartikeya. In North and West India he is often shown with two consorts, Riddhi and Siddhi (prosperity and spiritual attainment), and with sons Shubh and Labh (auspiciousness and gain), whose names are written on doorways and account books at Diwali. In much of South India he is worshipped as a brahmachari. His vahana is Mushaka, the mouse or bandicoot rat.

Every Chaturthi (fourth lunar day) belongs to Ganesha. Vinayaka Chaturthi falls in the bright fortnight, and Sankashti Chaturthi in the dark fortnight, when devotees fast until they sight the moon. A Sankashti that falls on a Tuesday is called Angarki and is especially auspicious in Maharashtra. In North India Wednesday is commonly kept for Ganesha.

His favourite offerings are modak (steamed or fried sweet dumplings), motichoor laddoos, durva grass (often in bunches of 21 blades), red flowers such as hibiscus, shami leaves and jaggery with coconut. Tulsi is traditionally not offered to Ganesha. Red and yellow are his colours, and a swastika or 'Shri' is drawn in his honour. Widely used mantras include 'Om Gam Ganapataye Namah', the Vakratunda shloka, the Ganesha Gayatri from the Ganapati Atharvashirsha, and aartis such as 'Sukhakarta Dukhaharta' in Marathi and 'Jai Ganesh Deva' in Hindi.

Ganesh Chaturthi falls on the fourth day of the bright fortnight of Bhadrapada (August-September). Families bring home a clay murti, worship it for one and a half, three, five, seven or ten days, and then immerse it (visarjan) with the cry 'Ganpati Bappa Morya, pudhchya varshi lavkar ya' (come back soon next year). The ten-day public festival ends on Anant Chaturdashi.

Ganesh Chaturthi was long a household festival in Maharashtra. Public (sarvajanik) celebrations were organised in Pune in 1892-93, and Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak championed them in his newspaper Kesari as a way to bring people together, which helped make the festival the vast community event it is today. Ganesh Jayanti (Maghi Ganesh Chaturthi) in the month of Magha is also observed, especially in Maharashtra and Goa. Today many families choose eco-friendly clay murtis to protect rivers and the sea.

The Ashtavinayak are eight shrines in Maharashtra, mostly around Pune: Mayureshwar at Morgaon, Siddhivinayak at Siddhatek, Ballaleshwar at Pali, Varadavinayak at Mahad, Chintamani at Theur, Girijatmaj at Lenyadri, Vighneshwar at Ozar and Mahaganapati at Ranjangaon. The Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai and Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganapati in Pune are among the most visited. In the South, the Ucchi Pillayar temple on the Rockfort at Tiruchirappalli, the rock-cut Karpaga Vinayagar at Pillayarpatti and the Kanipakam Vinayaka temple in Andhra Pradesh are famous. In Rajasthan the Trinetra Ganesh temple at Ranthambore fort receives wedding invitations by post from devotees, and Moti Dungri in Jaipur is much loved.

The Ganapatya tradition worships Ganesha as the Supreme Being. Its scriptures include the Ganapati Atharvashirsha, which declares Ganesha to be Brahman itself ('tvameva pratyaksham tattvamasi', you are the visible reality), and the Ganesha and Mudgala Puranas. The Ganesha Purana contains the Ganesha Gita, modelled on the Bhagavad Gita. In the Smarta panchayatana puja, Ganesha is one of the five deities.

Beyond any single sect, Ganesha belongs to everyone: Shaivas know him as Shiva's son, Vaishnavas and Shaktas invoke him first, and he is honoured in Jain and Buddhist traditions and across South-east Asia. In yogic symbolism he is associated with the muladhara, the root centre, because he governs all beginnings.