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Ganesha: the elephant-headed god of beginnings
गणेश
Ganesha is the god Hindus address first: before a puja, a wedding, an exam or the opening of a shop. Known as Ganapati, Vinayaka and, in the Tamil south, Pillaiyar, he is the son of Shiva and Parvati, the remover of obstacles and the patron of learning, and every Hindu tradition worships him whatever its main god. He is also the easiest god to recognise: an elephant head, a round belly, one broken tusk and a mouse at his feet.
Story
Parvati made him from the turmeric paste of her bath to guard the door; Shiva, not recognising the boy, struck off his head and, to console her, replaced it with the first head found: an elephant's. Mumbai's ten-day Ganesh festival ends with clay images carried into the sea.
Family and companions
Festivals
Ganesh Chaturthi✅ Symbols and iconography
His images vary more than those of most gods, but a few features always return.
- Elephant head — Most texts say he received it after his birth (see the story below); a few say he was born with it. One form, Heramba, has five elephant heads.
- Broken tusk — His earliest name is Ekadanta, "one-tusked". A later addition to the Mahabharata casts him as the scribe who writes down the epic as Vyasa dictates, one reason he is linked with writing and learning.
- Big belly — Lambodara, "hanging belly": the Brahmanda Purana says every universe, past, present and future, is held inside it.
- Four arms — Usually an axe or goad, a noose, a bowl of modak sweets that he tastes with his trunk, and one hand raised in abhaya, "fear not". A snake often serves as his belt.
- Mouse — His mount (vahana). One reading: the mouse is the pest that gnaws through everything, and the god riding it is master of obstacles.
The key stories
The best-known story, told in different versions in the Puranas, begins with [Parvati](/en/deities/parvati/) shaping a son from the turmeric paste of her bath and setting him to guard her door. [Shiva](/en/deities/shiva/) comes home, does not know the boy, is refused entry and strikes off his head. To console Parvati he brings the boy back to life with the first head that can be found, an elephant's, and makes him the god to be worshipped before all others. Other texts have him created by Shiva's laughter, or born from the elephant-headed goddess Malini.
A Tamil favourite, from the Kanda Puranam, is the contest with his brother [Murugan](/en/deities/murugan/) over a fruit of knowledge, promised to whoever first circles the world three times. Murugan sets off on his peacock; Ganesha walks round his parents, who are the world to him, and wins.
His marriage depends on the tradition. One strand of myth makes him an unmarried brahmachari; another shows him with Riddhi and Siddhi, prosperity and spiritual power, and in Maharashtra sometimes with Saraswati.
How he is worshipped
Ganesha is invoked at the start of any rite or venture, from buying a vehicle to opening a business, and southern dancers begin a Bharatanatyam performance with a prayer to him. Offerings are modak and laddu sweets, red flowers and durva grass. He also stands at the doorways of temples to other gods, echoing his first job as Parvati's door-guard, and hardly a village lacks his image, in a niche or under a tree. He is often worshipped together with [Lakshmi](/en/deities/lakshmi/).
The mantra on this page, Om gam Ganapataye namah, is one of the best known; Om Shri Ganeshaya namah, "salutation to the illustrious Ganesha", is the other you will hear most.
Ganesha temples
He has shrines in almost every temple; these are the ones where he is the main deity.
Bengaluru
[Dodda Ganapathi](/en/bengaluru/dodda-ganapathi-temple/) in Basavanagudi: a single rock carved into a Ganesha some eighteen feet high, periodically coated in butter (benne alankara), a minute's walk from the Bull Temple.
Pune and the Ashtavinayaka
Pune's Dagdusheth Halwai Ganapati temple, named after a sweet-seller of the late 1800s, draws huge crowds during the city's ten-day festival. Around Pune lie the eight Ashtavinayaka temples, from Morgaon to Ranjangaon, a pilgrimage that by tradition ends by returning to the first.
Mumbai, Jaipur, Udupi
Siddhivinayak in Prabhadevi, Mumbai, built in 1801, with the eight Ashtavinayaka carved on its doors; Moti Dungri in Jaipur, whose image was brought from Udaipur in 1761; and on Anegudde hill at Kumbashi in Udupi district, one of the best-known Ganapati temples in Udupi district.
Tamil Nadu and Andhra
The Rockfort Ucchi Pillayar temple in Tiruchirappalli, the Karpaga Vinayagar temple at Pillaiyarpatti, a town named after him, and Kanipakam in Andhra Pradesh.
Festivals
[Ganesh Chaturthi](/en/festivals/ganesh-chaturthi/), on the fourth day of the waxing moon in Bhadrapada (August–September), brings clay images into homes and street pavilions for up to ten days before they are immersed in water. Lokmanya Tilak turned a family rite into a public festival in 1893, and it is still biggest in Maharashtra, above all in Mumbai and Pune; in Goa it is Chovoth, a homecoming to ancestral houses ([Goa festivals](/en/goa/festivals/)). Ganesh Jayanti, his birthday, falls on the fourth day of the waxing moon in Magha (January–February). On [Diwali](/en/festivals/diwali/) night families pray to him together with Lakshmi.
❓ FAQ
Who is Lord Ganesha?
The elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati, worshipped as the remover of obstacles, the god of beginnings and the patron of learning. He is honoured first, before any other deity.
Why does Ganesha have an elephant head?
In the best-known Puranic story Shiva, not recognising the boy guarding Parvati's door, cuts off his head, then restores him to life with an elephant's head to console her. Some texts say he was born with it.
What does Ganesha help with?
Devotees ask him to clear obstacles at the start of something new: a journey, a business, studies, a marriage. He is also invoked for wisdom and success.
What is the Ganesha mantra?
The best known is Om gam Ganapataye namah, "salutation to Ganapati". Om Shri Ganeshaya namah is equally common.