Ganesha - The Lord of Beginnings

[Guest guest]

Ganesha - The Lord of Beginnings

Lord Ganesha, popularly known and easily recognized as the Elephant-God, is one

of the most important deities of the Hindu patheon. Before every undertaking,

be it laying of the foundation of a house, or opening of a store or beginning

any other work, Lord Ganesha is first worshipped so at to invoke his blessings.

 

Ganesha has many names. The main ones are Ganapati (lord of the ganas, or

attendants), Vighneshwara (controller of all obstacles), Vinayaka (the

prominent leader), Gajaanana (elephant-faced), Lambodara (pendant-bellied), and

Ekdanta (having one tusk).

Lord Ganesha, also called Ganapati or Vinayaka, is presented in the form of a

human body with the head of an elephant. This blend of human and animal parts

is a symbolic representation of a perfect human being, as conceived by Hindu

sages. His head symbolizes wisdom, understanding, and a discriminating

intellect that one must possess to attain perfection in life. By worshipping

Ganesha, a Hindu seeks God's blessings for achieving success in one's endeavors

in the physical world and for attaining perfection thereafter. Hence, Hindus

worship Ganesha to seek God's blessings before beginning such activities.

Lord Ganesha is the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati (a form of Goddess

Durga). The other son of Lord Shiva is Karttikeya also known as Muruga, Skanda,

Subramanya, Shanmukha. Ganesha has got two wives, one named Siddhi (Success) and

the other named Riddhi (Prosperity). One who pleases the Lord, automatically

comes in the good books of his two wives. Ganesha, the embodiment of wisdom, is

also depicted as the scribe to whom sage Vyasa dictated the Mahabharata. He is

accepted as the god of learning and the patron of letters.

The ancient sages, in their infinite wisdom, have designed Hindu deities with

specific Vedantic attributes in mind. ***

Ganesha was born on the fourth day of the month of Bhadrapad, the sixth month of

the Hindu lunar calendar. In the south, especially in Maharashtra people

celebrate 'Ganesh Chaturthi' by buying or making of clay image of Ganesha,

worshipping the idol at home or a community center and then taking it in a

procession to be immersed in a river, lake or sea. Vighneshwara (Remover or

controller of all obstacles), Who is Ganapati/Ganesa? Ganapati is the Self. In

a sentence, Ganesa simply means "Self-realization is but the removal of

obstacles to the recognition of the eternal, immanent, inner self, here and

now."(source: Ganapati: Song of the Self - By John A.

Grimes p. 194).

Ganesha has been a major deity, since the seventh and eighth centuries, in

Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It is from Vinayaka that the old Myanmar name

for Ganesha, Mahapinary purha, was derived. Other names with a similar meaning

occur frequently in Cambodian inscriptions, such as Vighnesha and Vignesvara,

both of which mean "Lord of removing obstacles". A popular temple at Futako

Tamagawa, Tokyo, Japan, displays Ganesha far more prominently than Buddha.

Ganesha was extremely popular in the art of Indonesian islands, especially of

Sumatra and Java and compare favorably with the eighth-century Ellora caves, in

images, style and iconography. At Candi Sukuh in central Java, a remarkable

fifteenth century relief shows three figures, with a dancing Ganesha in the

centre.<O:P> </O:P>There are paintings and stone sculptures of the deity found

in China, apart from the textual references to Ganesha in the Chinese Buddhist

canon. In Japan, there is the Shingon

ritual practice that centers on Ganesha, with texts tracing back to China. In

the Tibetan Buddhism, the practice associated with Ganesha, as Buddhist Tantric

deity, survives up to this day. In Jainism, Ganesha occasionally found a place

alongside Mahabir. The Tibetan Ganesha appears, besides bronzes, in the

resplendent Thangka paintings alongside the Buddha. In a single Kathmandu

valley of Nepal, there are four principal manifestations of "Binayak" in a

protective role: Ashok, Surya, Chandra and Bighna. In that valley, Ganapati

guards the Buddhist viharas where bhajans are sung in his praise. In Greece,

Janus, the god in Greek mythology after whom the month of January was named,

has the head of an elephant. Sometimes, he is depicted as a two-headed deity.

Like Ganesha, Janus is worshipped at the beginning of any auspicious occasion.

In Sri Lanka, the oldest image of Ganesha is found in the Kantak Chaitya in

Mihintale which is

dated to 1st century BC. The Ganesha idol at Subrahmanyam temple in Katargama

town is still worshipped. People who do not practice Hinduism also visit this

temple for this Ganesha is believed to grant the wishes of his devotees.

Ganesha is a vibrant presence whose benediction is sought by traders,

travelers, artists and statesmen. As lord of business and diplomacy, he sits on

a high pedestal outside Bangkok's World Trade Centre, where people offer

flowers, incense and a reverential sawasdee. A gilt Ganesha presides over the

bustling charivari of lucrative tourism in the lobby of the Rama Hotel. Even

Muslim Indonesia reveres him and European scholars call him the 'Indonesian God

of Wisdom'. Bandung boasts a Jalan Ganesa, and his image adorns 20,000 rupiah

notes. For more refer to chapter on Suvarnabhumi and India and China.

 

http://www.atributetohinduism.com/Symbolism_in_Hinduism.htm#Ganesha%20-%20The%20Lord%20of%20BeginningsDo

You ?