Ganesha

Parvati, wanting someone of her own while Shiva was away, formed a boy from the turmeric paste of her body and gave him life, and set him to guard the door while she bathed. Shiva returned and the boy, who did not know him, refused him entry. Shiva, refused at his own door by a child he had never seen, struck off his head. Parvati's grief and rage were such that Shiva sent the ganas to bring the head of the first living thing they found facing north, and they returned with an elephant's, and it was joined to the body and the boy restored. Shiva then granted that he would be worshipped first, before all the gods, in every rite. The story is about a father who did not recognise his son, and the repair that followed - and the elephant head, which is usually read as a curiosity, is in the tradition a mark of that event, not an original design.

The head's origin differs: Gajasura the elephant demon in some accounts, Airavata in others, and in the Shiva Purana it is simply the first north-facing creature. Some versions have Shani's glance destroying the child's head, which brings the planetary material in. The single tusk is explained several ways - broken in a fight with Parashurama, or broken off by Ganesha himself to write the Mahabharata when Vyasa dictated it and the pen failed. The Ganapatya sect, now largely absorbed, held him as the supreme deity rather than a son of Shiva. The Tamil tradition has him unmarried, while north Indian accounts give him Riddhi and Siddhi as wives and Shubha and Labha as sons - a real regional difference that surprises people on both sides.

Elephant head, one tusk broken, large belly, four arms bearing a noose, a goad, a broken tusk and a bowl of modaks, with the trunk curving - and the direction it curves matters: the left-curving trunk is the common domestic form, while the right-curving Siddhi Vinayaka is held to be more demanding and is usually installed in temples rather than homes, a distinction many buyers do not know. The mouse is his vehicle and is always present, usually at his feet, sometimes shown eating a modak. Red and saffron dominate. Seated with one leg folded is the standard household pose; dancing Ganesha, reclining Ganesha and the Ashtavinayak forms are all distinct. Durva grass and the modak are his offerings.

Siddhivinayak Temple, Mumbai — Mumbai, Maharashtra. Among the most visited temples in India and the most financially significant Ganesha shrine. The idol's trunk curves right, which is the reason for the name. Angarki Chaturthi; Tuesdays; Ganesh Chaturthi. Prabhadevi, Mumbai. Delivery city: Mumbai.

The Ashtavinayak — Pune, Raigad, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. Eight self-manifested Ganesha shrines in Maharashtra - Moreshwar at Morgaon, Siddhivinayak at Siddhatek, Ballaleshwar at Pali, Varadavinayak at Mahad, Chintamani at Theur, Girijatmaj at Lenyadri, Vighnahar at Ozar, Mahaganapati at Ranjangaon. The circuit is done in order. Ganesh Chaturthi; Magha Chaturthi. Around Pune. Delivery cities: Pune, Mumbai, Ahmednagar.

Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati, Pune — Pune, Maharashtra. Among the most famous public Ganpati mandals, founded in the nineteenth century by a sweet-maker after losing a child to plague. Ganesh Chaturthi. Budhwar Peth, Pune.

Ucchi Pillayar Temple, Tiruchirappalli — Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu. On the Rockfort above the city. The Tamil Vinayaka tradition, where he is unmarried, differs from the north. Vinayaka Chaturthi. Rockfort, Tiruchirappalli.

Kanipakam Vinayaka Temple — Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh. The image is held to be swayambhu and growing in size, and is kept in water. Oaths are sworn here and are taken seriously in local practice. Vinayaka Chaturthi; the Brahmotsavam. Kanipakam, Chittoor district.

The association with auspicious beginnings explains why Ganesha appears in accounts of starting a venture or undertaking. It does not establish that every Hindu ritual must begin with the same invocation. For a particular observance, follow the guidance of the relevant family or institution rather than treating a product profile as a universal ritual manual.

स्रोत: The Met: Ganesha, Lord of New Beginnings

• Ganesh Chaturthi — Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi, Aug-Sep — Ten days in Maharashtra. Images installed at home and in public mandals, immersed on Anant Chaturdashi.
• Sankashti Chaturthi — monthly, dark fortnight — Fasted, broken after the moon is sighted.
• Angarki Chaturthi — when Sankashti falls on a Tuesday — Very heavy attendance; occurs only a few times a year.
• Magha Ganesh Jayanti — Magha Shukla Chaturthi, Jan-Feb — Observed particularly in Maharashtra as his birth.

Silver Ganesha is the single most given religious object in India - at weddings, housewarmings, new businesses, Diwali, and as a gift with no occasion at all. Gold and silver Ganesha-Lakshmi coins are the standard Dhanteras and Diwali purchase across the country, and the pairing on one coin is the commonest religious coin design in India by a very wide margin. The trunk direction matters to informed buyers. For businesses, a silver Ganesha kept at the cash counter or with the account books is routine practice, and the Diwali chopda pujan places the new books before him.

Ganesha's public festival has a specific and well-documented political history: Bal Gangadhar Tilak promoted the public Ganesh Chaturthi in Pune from 1893, turning a domestic observance into a mass street festival, explicitly because public religious assembly was permitted where political assembly was not. The mandal system, the street pandals and the immersion processions all descend from that. The festival has since become Maharashtra's defining public event with an enormous economy around it - idol-making, decoration, sound, sweets. Beyond Maharashtra he is universal but not festival-centred: Tamil Nadu's Vinayaka Chaturthi, Karnataka's and Andhra's observances and the Gujarati household practice are all smaller and quieter. Trading communities across India open the Diwali account books in his name.

• That the elephant head is an original design. In the tradition it replaced the head Shiva struck off, and the story is about a father who did not recognise his son.
• That the trunk direction is decorative. The left-curving trunk is the common domestic form; the right-curving Siddhi Vinayaka is held to be more demanding and is usually installed in temples rather than homes.
• That he only removes obstacles. He places them as well - Vighnakarta and Vighnaharta are the same power read two ways.
• That Ganesh Chaturthi's public form is ancient. Tilak promoted it in Pune from 1893, turning a domestic observance into a mass street festival.
• That he is married everywhere. The Tamil tradition has him unmarried; north Indian accounts give him Riddhi and Siddhi as wives. Both sides are usually surprised.

• Shiva and Parvati - his parents.
• Kartikeya or Murugan - his brother, with a real sibling rivalry in the tradition.
• Lakshmi - worshipped beside him at Diwali and in business practice.
• Riddhi and Siddhi - his wives in the north Indian accounts.
• The mouse - his vehicle, always present in his images.

Gana plus isha - lord of the ganas, Shiva's attendant hosts. Vighnaharta is the remover of obstacles, and Vighnakarta, the placer of them, is the same power read the other way. Lambodar is the one with the hanging belly, Ekdanta the one-tusked. Pillaiyar is the Tamil name, from pillai, child.

• Shiva Purana and Skanda Purana - the principal narrative sources.
• Ganesha Purana and Mudgala Purana - the Ganapatya texts.
• Ganapati Atharvashirsha - the Upanishadic text recited in his worship.
• Tamil Vinayagar tradition and the Kamba and Tevaram material.