Deities & Iconography | Ganesha

Urmi Chanda-Vaz
Sep 5, 2016
2 min read

Today, Ganesha may be a popular Hindu deity, but he has intriguing origins. Some scholars are of the opinion that Ganesha may even have started out as a tribal god, and was eventually absorbed into the Hindu Puranic pantheon.

Different Puranas, Agamaas and Brahmanas offer different birth stories of Ganesha. Some attribute his birth to Parvati, some to Shiva, and some to both. Some scriptures identify him him Brahma and some even with Krishna! His many names, which imply contrary functions only add to his enigma. He has been called both – Vighnakarta, which means the creator of obstacles and Vighnaharta, which means the remover of obstacles.

However, despite his contentious origins, there is a larger agreement on his form. Ganesha is best recognized as a theriomorphic deity, i.e. part human and part animal. He is most commonly depicted as having a man's body, an elephant's head, and with four arms. His iconography is best explained through some of his popular names. For example, he is called Ekadanta, because he has one tusk. The name Gajaanana means the one with an elephant's head. The large fan-like ears are a symbol of wisdom. He is called Lambodara because of his pot belly, which is a result of his overindulgence in sweets, while he is known as Vakratunda because of his curved or twisted trunk or face. His trunk is usually turned towards the left, but there are rare icons found with the trunk curving towards the right. He may be depicted either sitting or standing with a mooshaka or mouse at his feet.

Depending on his form, the number of his arms and the weapons and accessories in them differ. But the most common form has Ganesha with 4 arms holding a pasa or noose, an ankusa or goad, a modaka or sweet dumpling and one hand held in the varada mudra or boon-granting stance. Some iconic forms of Ganesh include Shakti Ganesh, Lakshmi Ganesh, Maha Ganapati, Uchchista Ganapati, Oordhva Ganapati, Pingala Ganapati and many others. Whatever his form, one thing is common: his devotees' love for him!