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The devas

Shri Ganesha

गणेशः

Son of Bhagwan Shiva and Mata Parvati, worshipped first in every puja, yajna and new undertaking as the remover of obstacles and the giver of buddhi and siddhi.

Ganapati, lord of the ganasVighneshvara, lord of obstaclesVinayakaEkadanta, the one-tuskedLambodara, the round-belliedGajanana, the elephant-faced
Vahana
Mushaka, the mouse
Consort
Siddhi and Buddhi (Riddhi-Siddhi in north Indian usage)
Abode
Kailash, with his parents; Svananda-loka in the Mudgala Purana
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Cite

MLA

“Shri Ganesha.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/devata/ganesha/. Accessed .

APA

Hindu History. (2026). Shri Ganesha. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/devata/ganesha/

गणानां त्वा गणपतिं हवामहे कविं कवीनामुपमश्रवस्तमम्। ज्येष्ठराजं ब्रह्मणां ब्रह्मणस्पत आ नः शृण्वन्नूतिभिः सीद सादनम्॥

gaṇānāṃ tvā gaṇapatiṃ havāmahe kaviṃ kavīnām upamaśravastamam | jyeṣṭharājaṃ brahmaṇāṃ brahmaṇaspata ā naḥ śṛṇvann ūtibhiḥ sīda sādanam ||

We call on you, Ganapati of the ganas, seer of seers, most famous of all; eldest king of prayers, Brahmanaspati, hear us and come with your help to sit in this place. Rigveda 2.23.1
How they are shown

Elephant head on a round-bellied body, usually four-armed: the ankusha (goad) and pasha (noose) in the upper hands, a modaka and his own broken tusk or the abhaya mudra below. The trunk usually turns to his left; a right-turned trunk (dakshinamukhi, as at Siddhivinayak) calls for stricter worship. A mouse sits at his feet.

01In the Veda and Purana

Every Ganesh puja opens with a Rigvedic line, gaṇānāṃ tvā gaṇapatiṃ havāmahe (Rigveda 2.23.1). The hymn is addressed to Brahmanaspati, and the tradition has recited it for Ganapati for as long as anyone remembers. The Ganapati Atharvashirsha calls him the visible Brahman, tvameva pratyakṣaṃ tattvamasi. The Shiva Purana, in the Kumara Khanda of the Rudra Samhita, tells his birth: Mata Parvati shaped a son from the paste of her own body and set him at her door. He stopped even Shiva from entering, lost his head in the fight, and was given the head of an elephant and the first place in all worship.

02Kathas of the tusk and the race

When Maharshi Vyasa needed a scribe for the Mahabharata, Shri Ganesh agreed on one condition: the dictation must never pause. Vyasa answered with his own: Ganesh must understand every verse before writing it. The Puranas give more than one katha of the broken tusk, and devotees keep them all. In the best-loved one, Shiva and Parvati set their sons a race around the world. Kartikeya flew off on his peacock. Ganesh walked around his parents, saying they were the world to him, and won the fruit.

03Worship through the year

Ganesh Chaturthi falls on Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi. In Maharashtra it runs ten days and ends at Anant Chaturdashi with the immersion of the murti. Lokmanya Tilak made it a public festival in Pune in 1893, and the pandals have grown every year since. Each month has a Sankashti Chaturthi, a fast broken only after sighting the moon. Durva grass in twenty-one blades, red flowers and modakas are his offerings. Tulsi is kept away from his puja in most traditions.

04The Ashtavinayak and other seats

Around Pune lie the eight swayambhu Ganesh shrines of the Ashtavinayak yatra: Morgaon, Siddhatek, Pali, Mahad, Theur, Lenyadri, Ozar and Ranjangaon. The yatra begins and ends at Mayureshwar of Morgaon. In Mumbai, Siddhivinayak at Prabhadevi draws lakhs on Tuesdays. Down south, Ucchi Pillaiyar sits on top of the Tiruchirappalli rock, and at Kanipakam the swayambhu Vinayaka rises from a well. At Ranthambore fort, letters and wedding cards are still posted to Trinetra Ganesh.

In the texts

  • Rigveda 2.23.1 (gaṇānāṃ tvā gaṇapatim)
  • Ganapati Atharvashirsha
  • Shiva Purana, Rudra Samhita, Kumara Khanda
  • Ganesha Purana and Mudgala Purana

Utsav: festivals

Ganesh ChaturthiBhadrapada Shukla ChaturthiAnant Chaturdashi (visarjan)Sankashti Chaturthi (monthly)Ganesh Jayanti (Magha Shukla Chaturthi)

Temples on this site 32

Shri Siddhivinayak Temple, PrabhadeviRebuilt
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Shri Siddhivinayak Temple, Prabhadevi

Mumbai’s best-loved Ganesh temple, founded in 1801 by a childless woman who asked that Ganapati grant children to other barren women. The small black-stone murti draws lakhs of devotees on Tuesdays and on Angarki Chaturthi.

Mayureshwar (Moreshwar) Temple, MorgaonStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Mayureshwar (Moreshwar) Temple, Morgaon

The first and last stop of the Ashtavinayaka yatra and the chief seat of the Ganapatya tradition. Here, the Ganesha Purana says, Shri Ganesh came as Mayureshwar on a peacock and slew the asura Sindhu.

Siddhivinayak Temple, SiddhatekStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Siddhivinayak Temple, Siddhatek

The one Ashtavinayaka whose Ganesha turns his trunk to the right. Bhagwan Vishnu, says the Mudgala Purana, won his siddhi here before slaying Madhu and Kaitabha.

Ballaleshwar Temple, PaliStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Ballaleshwar Temple, Pali

The only Ashtavinayaka that carries a devotee’s name. Shri Ganesh appeared here to a boy, Ballal, whom his own father had beaten and tied to a tree for worshipping a stone.

Varadvinayak Temple, Mahad (Khalapur)Standing
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Varadvinayak Temple, Mahad (Khalapur)

The Ashtavinayaka where Rishi Gritsamada did tapas and Ganesha stayed as the giver of boons. Here devotees may enter the sanctum and touch the murti themselves.

Theur and the Chintamani TempleStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Theur and the Chintamani Temple

One of the eight Ashtavinayak shrines of Shri Ganesh, near the meeting of the Mula-Mutha and Bhima. Peshwa Madhavrao I loved it above all places and died here on 18 November 1772.

Girijatmaj Temple, LenyadriStanding
Shungas, Satavahanas, Kharavela and the Sangam Kingdoms

Girijatmaj Temple, Lenyadri

The only Ashtavinayaka on a hill and inside a cave. Mata Parvati, the Ganesha Purana says, did tapas here for twelve years to have Ganesha as her son.

Vighneshwar (Vighnahar) Temple, OzarStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Vighneshwar (Vighnahar) Temple, Ozar

The shrine on the Kukadi where Ganesha subdued Vighnasura, the asura of obstacles, and took the name Vighneshwar. Its shikhara is covered in gold.

Mahaganapati Temple, RanjangaonStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Mahaganapati Temple, Ranjangaon

The Ashtavinayaka where Bhagwan Shiva worshipped Ganesha before he destroyed the three cities of Tripurasura. Ganesha here is Mahaganapati, the most powerful of the eight forms.

Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati, PuneStanding
Renaissance and the struggle for Swaraj

Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati, Pune

Pune’s most famous Ganapati, set up by a sweet-maker who had lost his son, and bound up with the public Ganeshotsav that Lokmanya Tilak turned into a festival of the whole people in 1893.

Varasiddhi Vinayaka Temple, KanipakamStanding
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Varasiddhi Vinayaka Temple, Kanipakam

A self-manifest Ganesh who rose from a well in a field on the Bahuda river, and before whom disputes are still settled by oath. The murti, devotees say, keeps growing.

Rock Fort, TiruchirappalliStanding
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Rock Fort, Tiruchirappalli

An 83-metre rock over the Kaveri at Tiruchirappalli, with Shri Ganesh on the summit, the Thayumanaswamy temple halfway up, and Pallava cave shrines cut into its flanks. In the 18th century whoever held it held the Kaveri delta.

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