Lord
Ganesha
Plain glass frame painted
with Silver lining.
Ganesha
also spelled Ganesa and Ganesh, also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka and Pillaiyar is one of the deities
best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu
pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of
affiliations. Devotion to Ganesha is widely diffused and extends to Jains, Buddhists, and beyond India.
Although
he is known by many other attributes, Ganesha's elephant
head makes him particularly easy to identify. Ganesha is widely revered as the
Remover of Obstacles and more generally as Lord of
Beginnings and Lord of Obstacles (Vighnesha,
Vighneshvara patron of arts and
sciences, and the deva of intellect and wisdom. He is honoured at
the beginning of rituals and ceremonies and invoked as Patron of Letters during
writing sessions. Several texts relate mythological anecdotes
associated with his birth and exploits and explain his distinct iconography.
Ganesha
emerged as a distinct deity in clearly recognizable form in the 4th and 5th
centuries CE, during the Gupta Period, although he inherited traits from
Vedic and pre-Vedic precursors. His popularity rose quickly, and he was
formally included among the five primary deities of Smartism
(a Hindu denomination) in the 9th century. A sect of devotees called the Ganapatya
who identified Ganesha as the supreme
deity, arose during this period. The principal scriptures dedicated to Ganesha
are the Ganesha Purana, the Mudgala
Purana, and the Ganapati Atharvashirsa.
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