Ganesha – God of Good Beginnings and Remover of Obstacles

Ganesha is the most popular and beloved god of all. He is the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. Ganesha is not an elephant but received an elephant head only. The story goes that Parvati created Ganesha and asked him to guard her place not to let anyone enter while she was taking a bath. Lord Shiva not knowing this commanded Ganesha to make way for him to enter his Beloved’s quarters. In his rage for not getting entry, Shiva cut off the head of his own son. Parvati explained her orders for Ganesha to Shiva. Upon hearing this he goes out and gets the first head of an animal he can find and plants it onto Ganesha’s form. Since then he is known as elephant-headed god.

Ganesha as Scribe

The elephant head symbolizes wisdom. Ganesha is known for being the scribe to Vyasa, who dictated the historical Mahabharatha, now often referred to as an epic. Vyasa accepted him as a scribe under the condition that he has to continuously write and not stop. It happened that Ganesha’s pen broke during dictation. Without hesitation he immediately broke off his right tusk and continued writing with it.

Ganesha Symbolism

Ganesha is the god of the root center or muladhara chakra. He helps us transcend fantasies and gives power of visualization. We worship him for the removal of obstacles. Mooshika, the mouse, is his vehicle and represents efficiency.

In his top right hand he holds the Ankusha which symbolizes the state of being un-clutched (Unclutching is a meditation technique). Ganesha’s top left hand carries the Pasha to represent emotional balance. The Danda in his lower right hand expresses spontaneity and dedication. Ganesha’s lower left hand holds a bowl filled with Modaka, a sweet, which stands for the sweet and blissful life by being un-clutched, balanced and spontaneous.

Ganesha happily accepts his favorite sweet, modaka, during worship. As these are very time-consuming to prepare, he often gets them only on his birthday, Ganesha Jayanti, in August of each year.

Ganesha Mantra

At the temple we worship Ganesha first. It is a widely followed tradition to seek his blessings first before starting any undertaking, any new beginning.

One of Ganesha’s mantras is ‘Om Gum Ganapataye Namaha‘ which means we surrender to the remover of obstacles and bringer of success.