Shreee Ganesha is a also spelled Ganesa and Ganesh,also known as Ganpati Vinayaka,Vighnavinashaka, Gajanana, Ekadantha, Vigneshwara and Pillaiyar is one of the best-known
and most widely worshipped deities in the Hindu Pantheon. His image is found
throughout The India and Nepal .Hindu Sects worship him regardless of
affiliations. Devotion to Ganesha is widely diffused and extends to jains Buddhists and beyond India
Ganesha's elephant head
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.
The Lord Ganesha is patron of arts and sciences, and the DEVA of intellect and wisdom.He is honored 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 PURANA
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 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.
Ganesha has many other titles and epithets, including Ganapati and Vighneshvara. The Hindu title of respect Shri (श्री), also spelled (Shree) is often added before his name. One popular
way Ganesha is worshipped is by chanting a Ganesha Sahasranama a litany of "a thousand names of Ganesha". Each name
in the Sahasranama conveys a different
meaning and symbolises a different aspect of Ganesha. At least two different
versions of the Ganesha Sahasranama exist; one version is drawn from the Ganesha Purana, a Hindu Scripture venerating Ganesha.
The name Ganesha is a Sanskrit compound, joining the words gana, meaning a group, multitude, or categorical
system andisha meaning lord or master. The word gaņa when associated with
Ganesha is often taken to refer to the gaņas, a troop of semi-divine beings
that form part of the retinue of Shiva. The term more generally means a category, class,
community, association, or corporation. Some commentators interpret the name "Lord
of the Gaņas" to mean
"Lord of Hosts" or "Lord of created categories", such as
the elements. Ganapati (गणपति), a synonym for Ganesha, is a compound composed
of gaṇa, meaning "group", and pati, meaning "ruler" or "lord". The Amarakosha, an early Sanskrit lexicon, lists eight synonyms
of Ganesha : Vinayaka, Vighnarāja (equivalent toVighnesha), Dvaimātura (one who has two mothers), Gaṇādhipa (equivalent to Ganapati and Ganesha), Ekadanta (one who has one tusk), Heramba,Lambodara (one who has a pot
belly, or, literally, one who has a hanging belly), and Gajanana having the face of an elephant).
Vinayaka in snskrit (विनायक) is a common name for Ganesha that appears in
the Purāṇas and in Buddhist Tantras. This name is reflected in the naming of the
eight famous Ganesha temples in Maharashtra known as the Aṣṭavināyaka. The names Vighnesha (विघ्नेश) and Vighneshvara (विघ्नेश्वर)(Lord of Obstacles) refers to his primary function in Hindu
mythology as the master and remover of obstacles (vighna). In Maharashtra
In Tamil
A prominent name for Ganesha in the Tamil language is Pille (பிள்ளை) or Pillaiyar (பிள்ளையார்) (Little Child). A. K. Narain differentiates these terms by
saying that pille means a "child" while pillaiyar means a "noble child". He adds that the words pallu, pella, and pell in the Dravidian family of languages signify "tooth or tusk", also "elephant tooth or
tusk". Anita Raina Thapan notes that the root word pille in the name Pillaiyar might have originally
meant "the young of the elephant", because the Pali word pillaka means "a young elephant".
In Thailand
In the Burmese language, Ganesha is known as Maha Peinn, derived from Pali Mahā Wināyaka, The widespread name of Ganesha in Thailand is Phra Phikhanet or Phra Phikhanesuan, both of which are derived fromVara Vighnesha and Vara Vighneshvara respectively, whereas the name Khanet (from Ganesha) is rather rare.
In Sri lanka in the North Center and North Western areas with pre dominantly Buddhist population, Ganesha is known as Aiyanayaka Deviyo while in other Singhala buddhist areas he is known as Gana deviyo.