46 Fun Facts About Ganesha

Along with his elephant head, how many arms does Ganesha usually have?

A large belly completes the standard image.

Ganesha is most widely revered as the remover of what?

Ganesha is revered as Vighnaharta, the remover of obstacles, and as Vighnaraja, lord of obstacles, who can both place them and clear them away.

Ganesha is the son of which divine couple?

Ganesha is the son of Shiva and Parvati; the Puranas give several birth stories, and in some he is created by Parvati alone.

In the most common story, Ganesha received his animal head after which god beheaded him?

Shiva beheaded the boy who barred his way to Parvati's chamber, then replaced the head with an elephant's to console her.

From what did Parvati create Ganesha in the best-known version of his birth?

In the best-known account Parvati shaped Ganesha from clay, or the earth and paste from her own body, to guard her door; another version has him spring from Shiva's laughter.

Which small animal serves as Ganesha's usual vahana, or mount?

Ganesha's usual mount is a mouse, called Mushika, shown at his feet; the earliest images have no mount, and most of his Mudgala Purana incarnations ride the mouse.

What sweet is most famously offered to Ganesha, who is often shown holding a bowl of them?

Modak, a steamed rice-flour dumpling filled with coconut and jaggery, is Ganesha's favourite sweet; he is often shown holding a bowl of them.

Ganesha's name Ekadanta refers to what feature?

Ekadanta means 'one-tusked', referring to Ganesha's single whole tusk; it was his earliest recorded name, and the Mudgala Purana names an incarnation after it.

Ganesha's name Lambodara means what?

Lambodara means 'one who has a hanging belly', from lamba, hanging, and udara, belly; the Sanskrit lexicon Amarakosha lists it among Ganesha's synonyms.

The name Ganesha combines gana, 'group or multitude', with isha, meaning what?

The ganas are the troop of semi-divine beings in Shiva's retinue, so he is their lord.

Which name for Ganesha is used in Tamil?

Tamils call Ganesha Pillaiyar, from pillai, 'child', often glossed as 'noble child'; Perumal and Ayyanar are Tamil names of Vishnu and a village guardian god.

Ganesha holds the title Pratham Pujya, meaning he is what?

Pratham Pujya means 'first worshipped': Ganesha is invoked before any other deity at the start of rituals, new ventures and even other gods' festivals.

Which epic did Ganesha agree to write down as the sage Vyasa dictated it?

Ganesha wrote down the Mahabharata as Vyasa dictated it; Vyasa's own condition was that Ganesha understand every verse before writing it down.

What condition did Ganesha set before agreeing to be the sage's scribe?

It is why he is associated with mental agility and learning.

Who is Ganesha's brother, the god of war?

He is also called Skanda and Murugan; the north says he is the elder, the south says Ganesha is.

Buddhi, Siddhi and Riddhi, said in one tradition to be Ganesha's wives, personify what?

Buddhi, Siddhi and Riddhi personify intellect, spiritual power and prosperity; one tradition makes them Ganesha's wives or attendants, while another holds he was a lifelong celibate brahmachari.

Ganesha's annual festival, Ganesh Chaturthi, typically falls in which months?

Ganesh Chaturthi falls in August or September, on the fourth day of the bright fortnight of the Hindu month Bhadrapada, and the celebrations run ten days.

What happens to the clay Ganesha idols at the end of the festival?

The immersion, visarjan, takes place on Ananta Chaturdashi; Mumbai alone immerses around 150,000.

Which Indian nationalist turned Ganesh Chaturthi into a grand public event in 1893?

Lokmanya Tilak made Ganesh Chaturthi a public festival in 1893, using the 'god for everyman' to bridge castes and rally Indians against British rule.

Ganesh Chaturthi is a state festival of which Indian state?

Ganesh Chaturthi is the signature public festival of Maharashtra; the Peshwas had already made it a public celebration in their capital Pune in the 18th century.

Mumbai's famous Siddhivinayak temple stands in which neighbourhood?

The Siddhivinayak temple stands in Prabhadevi, in central Mumbai; it was built in 1801 by Laxman Vithu and Deubai Patil.

A famous pilgrimage circuit around Pune visits how many Ganesha temples?

The circuit is the Ashtavinayaka, Sanskrit for 'eight Ganeshas'; it links eight ancient temples in the Pune region, each with its own form and lore.

Ganesh Jayanti, celebrated as Ganesha's birthday in parts of western India, falls in which Hindu month?

Ganesh Jayanti falls on the fourth day of the bright fortnight of Magha, in January or February, and is observed mainly in western and south-western India.

Ganesha is identified with which sacred sound, said to be his very form?

The term omkarasvarupa means 'Om is his form'.

Ganesha's form Heramba-Ganapati has how many heads?

Heramba-Ganapati has five heads and ten arms; the form is especially popular in Nepal, where he is worshipped as a protector of the weak.

What does Ganesha hold in his lower-right hand in his standard form?

In his standard form Ganesha holds his broken tusk in his lower-right hand; the lower-left holds a sweet, which he samples with his trunk.

Which two implements does Ganesha typically hold in his upper arms?

The goad drives the devotee forward; the noose captures whatever stands in the way.

What colour is Ganesha most often described as?

Red is the colour most often associated with Ganesha; the Sritattvanidhi prescribes other colours for particular meditation forms, such as white for Rina-Mochana-Ganapati.

According to the Ganesha Purana, which serpent did Ganesha wrap around his neck?

The Ganesha Purana says Ganesha wrapped the serpent Vasuki around his neck; snakes also appear as his sacred thread, belt or throne.

Ganesha's name Dvaimatura means what?

Dvaimatura means 'one who has two mothers', from dvi, two, and matr, mother; the Amarakosha lists it among Ganesha's synonyms, reflecting birth stories with two maternal figures.

Which mark does the Ganesha Purana prescribe for Ganesha's forehead?

The Ganesha Purana prescribes a tilaka mark and a crescent moon on Ganesha's forehead; the form called Bhalachandra, 'moon on the forehead', shows this element.

The earliest mention of the word Ganapati appears in which text, though it may not refer to Ganesha?

The word ganapati first occurs in Rigveda hymn 2.23.1, composed in the 2nd millennium BCE, where it is an epithet of Brahmanaspati rather than Ganesha.

The name Vinayaka has a darker origin in four spirits of the Manavagrihyasutra who did what?

The Manavagrihyasutra's Vinayakas were malevolent spirits who caused evil and suffering, bringing misfortune that had to be averted by propitiation.

Under what name is Ganesha known in Japan, where his cult was first recorded in 806?

Ganesha is Kangiten, 'god of bliss', in Japanese Buddhism, often shown as a pair of embracing elephant-headed figures; his cult was first recorded there in 806.

Ganesha serves as the official emblem of which Thai government body?

Ganesha, patron of arts and learning, is the emblem of Thailand's Fine Arts Department, and his image appears on its official seal.

Among Sinhalese Buddhists in Sri Lanka, Ganesha is revered under what name?

Sinhalese Buddhists revere Ganesha as Gana deviyo, one of the guardian deities honoured at Buddhist temples alongside Vishnu and the Buddha.

Jain depictions of Ganesha show him riding a mouse, a tortoise, a ram or which bird?

In Jain art Ganesha sometimes rides a peacock, a mount he shares with his brother in Hindu iconography; Jain depictions otherwise follow Hindu conventions.

A 7th-century Ganesha statue with the archaic trunk-to-the-left motif survives in which cave complex?

The 7th-century statue is in the Ellora cave complex near Aurangabad; another early Ganesha, from the 5th century, is set into Cave 6 at Udayagiri in Madhya Pradesh.

Ganesha's association with which group first spread his worship outside India?

Traders and merchants, who took Ganesha as patron of their ventures, carried his worship abroad along Indian trade routes to Southeast Asia and beyond.

Ganesha's incarnation Vakratunda rides which animal, according to the Mudgala Purana?

The Mudgala Purana has Vakratunda, the first of its incarnations of Ganesha, ride a lion; Vighnaraja rides the divine serpent Shesha.

Ganesha's epithet Gajanana describes what feature?

Gajanana means 'elephant-faced', from gaja, elephant, and anana, face; the Amarakosha lists it among Ganesha's synonyms, and the Mudgala Purana names an incarnation Gajanana.

Which philosopher popularised the five-deity Panchayatana puja that includes Ganesha?

Adi Shankara popularised the Panchayatana puja, in which Ganesha, Vishnu, Surya, the Goddess and Ganesha's father are worshipped together, any one of them as the devotee's chosen focus.

In Kundalini yoga, Ganesha is said to reside in which chakra?

The name combines mula, 'original', and adhara, 'foundation', fitting the god who is worshipped first.

In which text does the mouse first appear in writing as Ganesha's mount?

The Matsya Purana is the first text to give Ganesha this mount; it reappears in the Brahmananda and Ganesha Puranas as the vehicle of his final incarnation.

In one alternative birth story, Ganesha is born to an elephant-headed goddess who drank what?

Parvati's bath water, thrown into a river, was drunk by the elephant-headed goddess Malini, who then bore Ganesha; that is one reason for his name Dvaimatura.

Ganesha appeared on which Indonesian banknote, issued in 1998?

The 20,000 rupiah note issued in 1998 showed Ganesha beside the educator Ki Hajar Dewantara; Indonesia regards him as a god of wisdom and learning.