Ganesha

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For other uses, see Ganesha (disambiguation).

Ganesha (Gaṇeśa) Devanagari: गणेश Sanskrit Transliteration: gaṇeśa Affiliation: Deva Consort: Buddhi (wisdom), Riddhi (prosperity), Siddhi (attainment) Mount: mouse

Ganesha (Sanskrit: गणेश; Gaṇeśa; , also spelled Ganesa) is one of the best-known and most beloved representations of divinity in Hinduism. Although he is known by multifarious attributes, Ganesha's elephant head renders him one of the most identifiable Hindu deities. Ganesha is worshipped as the lord of beginnings and also the lord of obstacles (Vighnesha), patron of arts and sciences, and the god of intellect and wisdom. He is honoured with affection at the start of any ritual or ceremony and invoked as the "Patron of Letters" at the beginning of any writing.

Ganesha appears as a distinct deity in recognizable form beginning in the fourth to fifth centuries AD, during the Gupta Period. His popularity rose quickly, and he was formally included as one of the five primary deities of Smartism, a Hindu denomination, in the ninth century AD. Many millions of Hindu worshippers recognize him as their Ishta devata, or "chosen divinity". The principal scriptures dedicated to his worship are the Ganesha Purana, the Mudgala Purana, and the Ganapati Atharvashirsa. Today, Ganesha is the most-worshipped divinity in India. Worship of Ganesha is considered complementary with the worship of other forms of the divine, and various Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations with other gods. The devotional cult of Ganesha is widely diffused and extends to Jains, Buddhists, and even beyond India.

Names

Etymology

The name Ganesha is a Sanskrit compound, joining the words gana (Sanskrit: गण; gaṇa), meaning a group, multitude, or categorical system and isha (Sanskrit: ईश; īśa), meaning lord or master. The word gaņa in association with Ganesha is often taken to refer to the gaņas, a group of semi-divine beings that form part of Lord Śiva's retinue. The term more generally means a category, class, community, association, or corporation. Some commentators interpret the name "Lord of the Gaņas" to mean "Lord of created categories," such as the elements, etc. The translation "Lord of Hosts" may convey a familiar sense to Western readers.

Epithets

Ganesha has many other titles and epithets, including Ganapati and Vighneśvara. Ganapati (Sanskrit: गणपति; gaṇapati) is a synonym for Ganesha, being a compound composed of gaṇa, meaning "group", and pati, meaning "ruler" or "lord"). The name Vignesha, meaning "Lord of Obstacles", refers to his primary function in Hindu mythology as being able to both create and remove obstacles in the lives of his followers (vighna). Vināyaka is a common name for Ganesha both in the Purāṇas and in Buddhist Tantras. The earliest name referring to Ganesha is Ekadanta ("One Tusk"), referring to his single tusk; the other is broken off. Some of the earliest images of Ganesha show him holding his broken tusk. The importance of this distinctive feature is reflected in the fact that, according to the Mudgala Purana, the name of Ganesha's second incarnation is Ekadanta. According to the Mudgala Purana two different incarnations of Ganesha use names based on Ganesha's paunch: Lambodara ("Pot Belly", or literally "Hanging Belly") and Mahodara ("Great Belly"). Both names are Sanskrit compounds describing his belly (Sanskrit: udara). The Brahmanda Purana says that he has the name Lambodara because all the universes (i.e., cosmic eggs; Sanskrit brahmāṇḍas) of the past, present, and future are present in Ganesha. One of Ganesha's names in the Ganesha Purana and in the Ganesha Sahasranama is Buddhipriya or "lover of intelligence"

One of the main names for Ganesha in the Tamil language is Pille or Pillaiyar, which means "Little Child". A. K. Narain differentiates these terms by saying that pille means a "child" and pillaiyar a "noble child", and adds that the words pallu, pella, and pell in the Dravidian family of languages signify "tooth or tusk of an elephant" but more generally "elephant". In discussing the name Pillaiyar, Anita Raina Thapan notes that since the Pali word pillaka has the significance of "a young elephant" it is possible that pille originally meant "the young of the elephant".

These names figure into worship of Ganesha, as well. One common form of Ganesha worship is by chanting one of the Ganesha Sahasranamas, which literally means "a thousand names of Ganesha". Each name in the sahasranama conveys a different meaning and symbolises a different aspect of Ganesha.

Mythology

Origins

File:Shiva parvati01.jpg

Shiva and Parvati with their son Ganesh

Ganesha is popularly considered to be the son of Shiva and Parvati; however, the means by which he became their son is anything but conventional. The most common account of this story begins with Shiva leaving his wife Parvati for an extended period of time in order to meditate on Mount Kailasa, inspiring intense loneliness within the goddess. Longing for a son, she rubbed an unguent upon the surface of her skin and from the scarp brought forth a being in the shape of a young man, Ganesha. She quickly ordered him to stand guard at the door of her bath while she bathed. Eventually, Shiva returned from his meditative sabbatical and attempted to access Parvati's private chamber. Ganesha refused to let him in and a struggle ensued, after which Shiva beheaded Ganesha. Hearing the commotion, Parvati came out of her bath and informed Shiva that he had just killed their child, threatening to destroy the universe if the situation was not rectified. Shiva promptly sent his servants to the North, the holy direction, so that they could find a new head for Ganesha. Details as to where the replacement head came from vary according to different sources. His servants found an elephant and cut off its head, which they placed upon Ganesh's shoulders upon their return. When Ganesh came back to consciousness, Shiva adopted him as his own.

Puranic myths provide a wide variety of other explanations for Ganesha's form. Some other texts say that Ganesha was actually born with an elephant head or heads, in most stories he acquires the head later, with several different accounts given. In a different story, when Ganesha was born his mother Parvati showed off her new baby to the other gods. Unfortunately, the god Shani (a deity corresponding to the planet Saturn) – who is said to have the "evil eye" – looked at him, causing the baby's head to be burned to ashes. The god Visnu came to the rescue and replaced the missing head with that of an elephant. In another story, Ganesha is created directly by Shiva's laughter. After Ganesha's birth, Shiva became concerned that Ganesha was too alluring, so he cursed Ganesha to have the head of an elephant and a protruding belly in order to make his appearance less appealing.

Brotherly Rivalry

Along with his mother and father, Ganesh's closest kin includes a brother, Karttikeya (also known as Skanda) ref>Thapan, p. 300.</ref> Legends suggesting whom exactly is the older brother vary from region to region: in North India, Karttikeya is generally said to be the elder brother while in the South, Ganesha is considered the first born. Prior to the emergence of Ganesha, Karttikeya had a long and glorious history as an important martial deity from about 500 B.C.E. to about 600 C.E., when his worship declined significantly in North India in conjunction with the rise of Ganesha. Several stories relate episodes of sibling rivalry between Ganesha and Skanda and may reflect historical tensions between the respective sects.

Consorts

Buddhi, Siddhi and Riddhi

Ganesha's marital status varies widely in mythological stories and the issue has been the subject of considerable scholarly review. One pattern of myths based in various Puranas associates Ganesha with the concepts of Buddhi (intellect), Siddhi (spiritual power), and Riddhi (prosperity), three qualities personified as goddesses who are considered to be Ganesha's wives. In Chapter I.18.24-39 of the Ganesha Purana, Brahmā performs worship in honour of Ganesha. During the puja, Ganesha himself causes Buddhi and Siddhi to appear so that Brahmā can offer them back to Ganesha. Ganesha accepts them as offerings. In the Shiva Purana (Śiva Purāṇa), Ganesha cleverly wins the two desirable daughters of Prajāpati by outwitting Karttikeya. Aside from Puranic texts, evidence of Ganesha's links to these goddesses can be found elsewhere. In the Ganesha Temple at Morgaon (the central shrine for the regional aṣṭavināyaka complex), Buddhi and Siddhi stand to the right and left sides of the Ganesha image. In northern India, the two female figures are said to be Siddhi and Riddhi; Riddhi substitutes for Buddhi with no Puranic basis. These female figures may have originally served as a suggestion that where Gaṇesha is present, success (siddhi) and wisdom (buddhi) are not far behind, with the idea that they were actually married to the god developing later.

Shaktis

Ganesha with the Ashta (meaning eight) Siddhi. The Ashtasiddhi are associated with Ganesha. Painted by Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906).

A distinct type of iconographic image of Ganesha shows him with human-looking females called shaktis, referring to uniquely female creative energy. Theses consorts generally lack distinctive personalities or iconographic repertoires. A common depiction of this motif shows Ganesha seated with the shakti upon his left hip, turning his trunk to his left to taste the flat cakes or round sweets that the shakti holds in a bowl. In some of the tantric forms of this image, the gesture is modified to take on erotic overtones. According to Ananda Coomaraswamy, the oldest known depiction of Ganesha with a shakti of this type dates from the sixth century AD.

Prithvi Kumar Agrawala has traced at least six different lists of fifty or more aspects or forms of Ganesha each with their specific female consorts or shaktis. In these lists, goddess names such as Hrī, Śrī, and Puṣṭī are found. However, Buddhi, Siddhi, and Riddhi do not appear on any of these lists, which also do not provide any details about the personalities or distinguishing iconographic forms for these shaktis. Agrawala concludes that all of the lists were derived from one original set of names. The earliest of the lists occurs in the Nārada Purāṇa (I.66.124-38), and appears to have been used with minor variations in the Ucchiṣṭagaṇapati Upāsanā. These lists are of two types. In the first type the names of various forms of Ganesha are given with a clear-cut pairing of a named shakti for that form. In the second type, as found in the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa (II.IV.44.63-76) and the commentary of Rāghavabhaṭṭa on the Śāradātilaka (I.115), fifty or more names of Ganesha are given collectively in one group, with the names of the shaktis given collectively in a second group.

Other Wives

Additionally, Ganesha has been coupled with the goddess of culture and the arts, Sarasvati, aw well as the goddess of luck and prosperity, Lakshmi. This symbolically suggests that the qualities of these separate goddesses shoul always accompany one other. In the Ajitāgama, a Tantric form of Ganesha called Haridra Ganapati is described as turmeric-colored and flanked by two unnamed women distinct from shaktis. who are distinctly referred to as "wives" (Sanskrit: दारा; dārā) is specifically used (Sanskrit: दारायुगलम्; dārāyugalam). Yet another altogether different pattern identifies Ganesha as a brahmacharin, which would suggest he was celibate.

Attributes

This statue of Ganesha was created in the Mysore District of Karnataka in the 13th century.

Appearance and Iconography

Ganesha is a popular figure in Indian art, and so Representations of Ganesha are widely varied. However, he is most consistently and obviously recognizable by way of his elephant head, a feature that has characterized Ganesha since the early stages of his appearance in Indian art. One of his more popular images (called Heramba-Ganapati) has five elephant heads, and other less-common variations in the number of heads are known. One of Ganesha's tusks is missing. He is commonly depicted with a short, stocky build, and a comfortable pot-belly. The pot belly appears as a distinctive attribute in his earliest statuary, which dates to the Gupta period (4th to 6th centuries AD). The number of Ganesha's arms varies between two and sixteen, though he is most often pictured with four, which is codified as a standard form in some iconographic texts. His earliest images had two arms, and the presence of only two arms on an image of Ganesh points to an early date. In the typical four-arm configuration, his lower right hand holds his broken tusk, a feature which was present even in early depictions. His lower-left hand often holds some form of delicacy, which he samples with his trunk, while his upper hands carry an axe and a noose as symbols of his ability to cut through obstacles or to create them as needed. The colors most-often associated with Ganesha are red and yellow, but specific other colors are prescribed for use in certain forms. For example, the color white is associated with his representations as Rina-Mochana-Ganapati.("Ganapati Who Releases From Bondage"), while blue is associated with Ekadanta-Ganapati when engaged in meditation . He may be portrayed standing, dancing, taking heroic action against demons, playing with his family as a boy, sitting down, or engaging in a remarkable range of contemporary situations.

Vehicle

Ganesha is often shown riding on, or attended by, a small rodent, either a mouse or a rat. In the earliest images of the he is shown without a Vahana (mount), an ommission highly uncharacteristic of most Hindu deities; . By the time of the Puranas however, the mouse as a mount was well-established as Ganesha's mount. The mouse is first mentioned in the Matsya Purana, and later in the Brahmananda Purana and in the Ganesha Purana The rodent is also most common among the vehicles of Ganesha's avatars. Of the eight incarnations of Ganesha described in the Mudgala Purana, Ganesha has a mouse in five of them, although he uses a lion in his incarnation as Vakratunda, a peacock in his incarnation of Vikata, and a divine serpent in his incarnation as Vighnaraja. In popular iconography of central and western India, Martin-Dubost says that the rodent began to appear as the principal vehicle in sculptures of Gaṇeśa in the 7th century C.E., consistently placed in proximity to the god's feet

Scholars have wagered many guesses as to what the rodent represents. David Brown suggests that it speaks to Ganesha's status as a god of enterprise, since the rodent rivals the god in his ability to get past any obstacle. A completely different interpretation is given by Krishan, who notes that the rat or the mouse is a destructive creature and a menace to crops. Thus, it was essential to subdue the rat as a destructive pest, a type of vighna or impediment to progress that needed to be overcome. By this theory, showing Ganesha as master of the rat proclaimed his function as remover of obstancles, and also gives evidence of his possible role as a village deity who later rose to greater prominence.

Functions

Ganesha has three primary functions: he is 1)the god of obstacles, 2) the god of Buddhi (or intelligence), and 3) the personification of the primordial sound AUM.

Obstacles

As the "Lord of Obstacles", Ganesha is responsible for creation obstructions of both of a material and spiritual order. He places obstacles in the path of those who need to be checked, and can also remove blockages just as easily. The Sanskrit names Vighnakartā ("obstacle-creator") and Vighnahartā ("obstacle-destroyer") used to refer to the god summarize the dual functions. Both functions are vital to his character, giving it significant depth as he is venerable for both a negative and a positive aspect.

Buddhi

Ganesha is also considered to be the lord of buddhi, which is a feminine noun that can be variously translated from Sanskrit as intelligence, wisdom, or intellect. The concept of buddhi is closely associated with the personality of Ganesha, especially in the Puranic period, where many stories were developed in order to showcase his cleverness and love of intellect.

Aum

File:Ganesha-aum.jpg

Ganesha Aum jewel

Ganesha is often identified with the Hindu mantra Aum (ॐ, also called Om, Omkara, oṃkāra, or Aumkara), the fundamental sound of the universe. The term oṃkārasvarūpa ("Aum is his form") in connection with Ganesha refers to the belief that he is the personification of the primal sound. This association is attested in the Ganapati Atharvashirsa, which is translated by Paul Courtright as follows:

You are Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra [[[Śiva]]]. You are Agni, Vāyu, and Sūrya. You are Candrama. You are earth, space, and heaven. You are the manifestation of the mantra "Oṃ".

Some devotees have even claimed to have seen similarities between the shape of his body and the shape of Om in the Devanāgarī and Tamil scripts.

Worship and festivals

Whether the concern is the successful performance of a religious ceremony, purchase of a new vehicle, the writing of an examination, sessions of devotional chanting, the beginning a business, Ganesha is worshipped. It is widely believed that wherever Ganesha is present, there is success and prosperity. By calling on him people believe that he will come to their aid and grant them success in whatever endeavours they might be making.

In the temple, Mantras such as Om Shri Gaṇeshāya Namah ("Om, salutation to the Illustrious Ganesha"), and others, are often used to channel Ganesha. One of the most famous mantras associated with Ganesha is Om Gaṃ Ganapataye Namah (literally, "Om, Gaṃ, Salutation to the Lord of Hosts"). Offerings are commonly made to Ganesh, often in the form of various sweets, such as modaka, small sweet balls (laddus), among others.. He is often shown carrying a bowl of sweets, called a modakapātra, which is one of his persistent iconographic elements. Because of his identification with the color red, he is also often worshipped with things such as red sandalwood paste (raktacandana), or red flowers. Dūrvā grass (Cynodon dactylon) and various other materials are used in his worship. The worship of Ganesha is considered complementary with the worship of other deities. Hindus of all sects begin prayers, important undertakings, and religious ceremonies with an invocation of Ganesha.

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Celebrations of Ganesh by the Indian and Sri Lankan Tamil community in Paris, France

Considering his ubiquitous appeal, worship of Ganesh extends beyond the temple and is carried out in virtually all aspects of life. For example, all throughout India and the Hindu culture, Ganesha is the first icon placed into any new home or abode. As well, Ganesha is particularly adored by dancers and musicians, who begin their performances of arts such as the Bharatnatyam dance with a prayer to him, particularly in South India.

Ganesh Chaturthi

In India, there is an important festival honouring Ganesha that is celebrated for ten days starting from Ganesh Chaturthi. This festival culminates on the day of Ananta Chaturdashi when images (murtis) of Ganesha are immersed into the most convenient body of water.

The Ganapati festival is celebrated by Hindus throughout India with great devotional fervour. While it is most popular in the state of Maharashtra, it is performed all over India. In Mumbai, the festival assumes huge proportions. On the last day of the festival, millions of people of all ages descend onto the streets leading up to the sea, dancing and singing, to the rhythmic accompaniment of drums and cymbals.

Rise to prominence

First appearance

Ganesha appears as a distinct deity in clearly-recognizable form beginning in the fourth to fifth centuries AD. Shanti Lal Nagar says that the earliest cult image of Ganesha so far known is is found in the niche of the Shiva temple at Bhumra, which has been dated to the Gupta period. By about the tenth century CE his independent cult had come into existence.

Despite these fragments of information, questions of Ganesha's historical origin are still largely unanswered, and many theories persist. The Rg Veda 2.23.1 calls upon a deity Ganapati, a "leader of hosts". While most devotees of Ganesha accept this as his Vedic origin, scholars both east and west have concluded that this text refers to Brhaspati, the divine priest, rather than Ganesh. Similarly, the Yajur Veda invokes "one having a trunk", although it is located within a litany to Rudra, Shiva's prototype. Hence, this and other Vedic references to a trunks and tusks may actually refer to the elephantine features of Shiva, who assumed them after slaying the elephant demon.

One theory of the origin of Ganesha is that he gradually came to prominence in connection with the four Vināyakas. In Hindu mythology the Vināyakas were a group of four troublesome demons who created obstacles and difficulties, but who were easily propitiated. The name Vināyaka is a common name for Ganesha both in the Purāṇas and in Buddhist Tantras. Krishan is one of the academics who accepts this view, stating flatly that Ganesha "is a non-vedic god. His origin is to be traced to the four Vināyakas, evil spirits, of the Mānavagŗhyasūtra (7th-4th century B.C.E.) who cause various types of evil and suffering." While none of these gods are described to be elephant-headed, they are resposible for the creation of obstacles.

Another significant group of scholars have interpreted the myths of Ganesha as revelatory of his status as a former totemic emblem. In this way, Ganesha's adoption by Shiva is a mythological illustration of syncretism, in which a tribe under the banner of the elephant is assimilated into the Brahmanic fold. In the process of this academic search for Ganesha's tribal origin, numerous possibilities have been suggested, including South India tribal traditions, the Pillayar caste, the Munda of central India, the Gajas of the northeast, and the Naga cult of Western India. All these possibilities are insufficient since they limit Ganesha to Dravidian roots; furthermore, there is no independent evidence for the existence of an elephant cult or a totem in these region, nor is there any archaeological data pointing to a tradition predating Ganesha's emergence in popular iconography and the Purāṇic literature.

Possible influences

Courtright reviews various speculative theories about the early history of Ganesha, including supposed tribal traditions and animal cults, and dismisses all of them in this way:

In this search for a historical origin for Gaņeśa, some have suggested precise locations outside the Brāhmaṇic tradition.... These historical locations are intriguing to be sure, but the fact remains that they are all speculations, variations on the Dravidian hypothesis, which argues that anything not attested to in the Vedic and Indo-European sources must have come into Brāhmaṇic religion from the Dravidian or aboriginal populations of India as part of the process that produced Hinduism out of the interactions of the Aryan and non-Aryan populations. There is no independent evidence for an elephant cult or a totem; nor is there any archaeological data pointing to a tradition prior to what we can already see in place in the Purāṇic literature and the iconography of Gaņeśsa.

Thapan's book on the development of Ganesha devotes a chapter to speculations about the role elephants had in early India, but concludes that:

Although by the second century AD the elephant-headed yakṣa form exists it cannot be presumed to represent Gaṇapati-Vināyaka. There is no evidence of a deity by this name having an elephant or elephant-headed form at this early stage. Gaṇapati-Vināyaka had yet to make his debut.

Vedic and epic literature

Ganesha as we know him today does not appear in the Vedas. The title "Leader of the group" (Sanskrit gaṇapati) occurs twice in the Rig Veda but in neither case does it refer to the modern Ganesha. The term appears in RV 2.23.1 as a title for Brahmanaspati, the teacher of the gods. H. H. Wilson translates the Sanskrit verse "gaṇānāṃ tvā gaṇapatiṃ havāmahe kaviṃ kavīnāmupamaśravastamam" (RV 2.23.1 [2222]) as "We invoke the Brahmaṇaspati, chief leader of the (heavenly) bands; a sage of sages". While there is no doubt that this verse refers to Brahmanaspati, the verse was later adopted for use in worship of Ganesha even to this day. In rejecting any claim that this passage is evidence of Ganesha in the Rig Veda, Ludo Rocher says that it "clearly refers to Bṛhaspati - who is the devatā of the hymn - and Bṛhaspati only." The second passage (RV 10.112.9) equally clearly refers to Indra. Wilson translates the Sanskrit verse "ni ṣu sīda gaṇapate gaṇeṣu tvāmāhurvipratamaṃ kavīnām" as "Lord of the companies (of the Maruts), sit down among the companies (of the worshippers), they call you the most sage of sages".

Ganesha does not appear in literature of the epic period, but there is a late interpolation to the epic poem Mahabharata, where it is written that the sage Vyasa (Vyāsa) asked Ganesha to serve as his scribe to transcribe the poem as he dictated it to him. Ganesha agreed, but only on the condition that Vyasa recite the poem uninterrupted, without pausing. The sage agreed to this condition, but found that to get any rest he needed to recite very complex passages in order to get Ganesha to ask for clarifications. This is the single passage in which Ganesha appears in that epic. The story is not accepted as part of the original text by the editors of the critical edition of the Mahabharata, where the twenty-line story is relegated to a footnote to an appendix. Ganesha's association with mental agility and learning is probably one reason he is shown as scribe for Vyasa's dictation of the Mahabharata in this interpolation to the text. Richard L. Brown dates the story as 8th century AD, and Winternitz concludes that it was known as early as c. 900 C.E. but he maintains that it had not yet been added to the Mahabharata some 150 years later. Moriz Winternitz also drew attention to the fact that a distinctive feature of Southern manuscripts of the Mahabharata is their omission of this Ganesha legend.

Puranic period

Stories about Ganesha often occur in the Puranic corpus. Brown notes while the Puranas "defy precise chronological ordering", the more detailed narratives of Ganesha's life are in the late texts, circa 600- 1300 C.E. Yuvraj Krishan says that the Puranic myths about the birth of Ganesha and how he came to acquire an elephant's head are to be found in the later Puranas composed from about 600 C.E. onwards, and that references to Ganesha in the earlier Puranas such as the Vayu and Brahmanda Puranas, are considered to be later interpolations made during the 7th to 10th centuries AD.

In his survey of Ganesha's rise to prominence in Sanskrit literature Ludo Rocher notes that:

Above all, one cannot help being struck by the fact that the numerous stories surrounding Gaṇeśa concentrate on an unexpectedly limited number of incidents. These incidents are mainly three: his birth and parenthood, his elephant head, and his single tusk. Other incidents are touched on in the texts, but to a far lesser extent.

Ganesha's rise to prominence was codified in the 9th century AD when he was formally included as one of the five primary deities of Smartism. The "worship of the five forms" (pañcāyatana pūjā) system, which was popularized by the ninth-century philosopher Śaṅkarācārya among orthodox Brahmins of the Smārta tradition, invokes the five deities Ganesha, Vishnu, Shiva, Devī, and Sūrya. It was instituted by Śaṅkarācārya primarily to unite the principal deities of the five major sects (Gāṇapatya, Śaiva, Vaiṣṇava, and Sūrya) on an equal status. This formalized the role of Ganesha as a complementary deity. The monistic philosophy preached by Śaṅkarācārya made it possible to choose one of these as a preferred principal deity and at the same time worship the other four deities as different forms of the same all-pervading Brahman.

Ganesha Scriptures

For more detail see: Ganesha Purana and Mudgala Purana

Once Ganesha was accepted as one of the five principal deities of Brahmanism, some brāhmaṇas chose to worship Ganesha as their principal deity, developing the Ganapatya tradition reflected in the Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana.

The date of composition for both the Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana, and their dating relative to one another, has been a matter of academic debate. Both works developed over periods of time and contain age-layered strata. Anita Thapan reviews different views on dating and states her own judgement that it appears likely that the core of the Ganesha Purana come into existence around the 12th and 13th centuries, being subject to interpolations during the succeeding ages. Lawrence W. Preston considers that the period AD 1100-1400 is the most reasonable date for the Ganesha Purana because that period agrees with the apparent age of the sacred sites mentioned by it.

R. C. Hazra suggested that the Mudgala Purana is earlier than the Ganesha Purana which he dates between 1100 and 1400 C.E. However Phillis Granoff finds problems with this relative dating and concludes that the Mudgala Purana was the last of the philosophical texts concerned with Ganesha because, among other internal evidence, the Mudgala Purana specifically mentions the Ganesha Purana as one of the four Puranas that deal at length with Ganesha (these are the Brahma, the Brahmanda, the Ganesha, and the Mudgala puranas). The Mudgala Purana, like many other Puranas, contains multiple age strata, and that while the kernel of the text must be old it continued to receive interpolations until the 17th and 18th centuries as the worship of Ganapati became more important in certain regions.

Another scripture that is held in high regard is the Ganapati Atharvashirsa, which was probably composed during the sixteenth or seventeenth centuried A.D.

Beyond India and Hinduism

For more on this topic, see Ganesha outside Hinduism.

Tibetan depiction of Ganapati as Maha-Rakta (The Great Red One)

India had an impact on many countries of West and South Asia as a result of commercial and cultural contacts. Ganesha is one of many Hindu deities who reached foreign lands as a result. The worship of Ganesha by Hindus outside of India shows regional variation.

Ganesha was a deity particularly worshipped by traders and merchants, who went out of India for commercial ventures. The period from approximately the tenth century onwards was marked by the development of new networks of exchange, the formation of trade guilds, and a resurgence of money circulation, and it was during this time that Ganesha became the principal deity associated with traders. The earliest inscription where Ganesha is invoked before any other deity is by the merchant community.

Hindus spread out to the Malay Archipelago and took their culture with them, including Ganesha. Statues of Ganesa are found throughout the Malay Archipelago in great numbers, often beside Shiva sanctuaries. The forms of Ganesha found in Hindu art of Java, Bali, and Borneo show specific regional influences. The gradual emigration of Hindus to Indochina established Ganesha in modified forms in Burma, Cambodia, and Thailand. In Indochina Hinduism and Buddhism were practiced side-by-side, and mutual influences can be seen in Ganesha iconography of that region. In Thiland, Cambodia, and Vietnam, Ganesha was mainly thought of as a remover of obstacles. Even today, in Buddhist Thailand Ganesha is regarded as remover of obstacles and thus god of success.

Before the arrival of Islam, Afganistan had close cultural ties with India, and the adoration of both Hindu and Buddhist deities was practiced. A few examples of sculptures from the period 5th-7th century AD have survived, suggesting that the worship of Ganesha was in vogue in the region at that time.

Ganesha also appears in Buddhism, not only in the form of the Buddhist god Vināyaka, but also portrayed as a Hindu demon form also called Vināyaka. His image may be found on Buddhist sculptures of the late Gupta period. As the Buddhist god Vināyaka, he is often shown dancing, a form called Nṛtta Ganapati that was popular in North India and adopted in Nepal and then into Tibet. In Nepal the Hindu form of Ganesha known as Heramba was very popular, appearing with five heads and riding upon a lion. Tibetan representations of Ganesha show ambivalent views of him. In one Tibetan form he is shown being trodden under foot by Mahākala, a popular Tibetan deity. Other depictions show him as the Destroyer of Obstacles, sometimes dancing. Ganesha appears in both China and Japan in forms that show distinct regional character. In North China, the earliest known stone statue of Ganesha carries an inscription dated 531 C.E. In Japan the Ganesha cult was first mentioned in 806 C.E.

The canonical literature of Jainism does not mention the cult of Ganesha. However Ganesha is worshipped by most Jains, for whom he appears to have taken over certain functions of Kubera. Jain connections with the trading community support the idea that Jainism took up the worship of Ganesha as a result of commercial connections. The earliest known Jain Ganesha statue dates to about the 9th century AD. A 15th century Jain text provides procedures for the installation of Ganapati images. Images of Ganesha appear in the Jain temples of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

References

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A murti of Ganesha in a temple at Bangalore, capital of the Indian state of Karnataka.

• Agrawala, Prithvi Kumar (1978). Goddess Vināyakī: The Female Gaṇeśa, Indian Civilization Series. Varanasi: Prithivi Prakashan. 
• Apte, Vaman Shivram (1965). The Practical Sanskrit Dictionary. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. ISBN 81-208-0567-4.  (fourth revised & enlarged edition).
• Avalon, Arthur (1933). Śāradā Tilaka Tantram. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. ISBN 81-208-1338-3.  (1993 reprint edition).
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• Chinmayananda, Swami (1987). Glory of Ganesha. Bombay: Central Chinmaya Mission Trust. 
• Courtright, Paul B. (1985). Gaṇeśa: Lord of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN ISBN 0-19-505742-2. 
• Flood, Gavin (1996). An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN ISBN 0-521-43878-0. 
• Getty, Alice (1936). Gaņeśa: A Monograph on the Elephant-Faced God. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 81-215-0377-X.  (1992 reprint edition).
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• Martin-Dubost, Paul (1997). Gaņeśa: The Enchanter of the Three Worlds. Mumbai: Project for Indian Cultural Studies. ISBN 81-900184-3-4. 
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External links

Most of the source scriptures on Ganesha are in Sanskrit. A collection of useful documents can be found here. At the same site can be found some documents and translations in English here.

• Ganesh: Symbol and presence
• Ganesha: The Elephant-God

ar:غانيشا bg:Ганеша ca:Ganesha da:Ganesha de:Ganesha es:Ganesha fr:Ganesh ko:가네샤 hi:गणेश id:Ganesha it:Gaṇeśa he:גנש la:Ganesha lt:Ganeša nl:Ganesha new:विनायक ja:ガネーシャ no:Ganesha nn:Ganesja pl:Ganeśa pt:Ganesha ru:Ганеша simple:Ganesha sa:गणेश sl:Ganeša fi:Ganesha sv:Ganesha ta:விநாயகர் te:వినాయకుడు vi:Ganesha uk:Ганеша ur:گنیش zh:格涅沙

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