About Sri Ganesha
Sri Ganesha — Remover of Obstacles
Before a Hindu sets out on a journey, opens a shop, or begins a pooja, Ganesha is invoked first. The first among the gods. The one who clears the way.
Sri Ganesha carries many names. Ganapati, Lord of the Ganas. Vinayaka, supreme leader. Vighneshvara, Lord of Obstacles — the one who sets them, and the one who removes them. The elephant-headed form is not a myth to be explained — it is a language, and every detail speaks.
His names
Three names, one presence
In Hinduism each name picks out a different face of the divine being — not a different deity, but a different relationship.
- 01
Ganapati
Lord of the Ganas - 02
Vinayaka
Supreme leader - 03
Vighneshvara
Lord of Obstacles
The form is a language
What the form is telling you
Every line of the murti carries a teaching. Read them and you're reading a guide to a life that holds together.
Great head
the readiness to think big.Small eyes
concentration on what is actually in front of you.Large ears
listen more than you speak.Large belly
the capacity to digest every experience without growing bitter.One broken tusk
knowledge requires sacrifice. Ganesha wrote the Mahabharata with it, as Vyasa dictated.Modaka in hand
the sweetness that comes after the work on the self.
The murti in our sanctum
Carved in Mahabalipuram, walked into Berlin
In the temple
How to meet him
Reading is a beginning. Standing, listening, offering a modaka — the rest happens in the temple room.