Lord Ganesh: The Elephant God Enriches our Lives

Understanding Lord Ganesh, the Most lovable Hindu God

Ganesh the Protector

The trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva form the bedrock of Hindu religious thought. These are the exalted deities, but there are some less exalted deities or gods that have also a great effect on Hindu philosophy. One of these deities is Lord Ganesh popularly referred to as the Elephant god. As he is a second tier god his place in most temples is as a door keeper. This has a special significance as it means that the Lord Ganesh being a guard of a temple is thus closer to human mind and aspirations. Ganesh was the son of lord Shiva and his consort Parvati.

Lord Ganesh is the most loved of all the gods and there is not a village in India which does not have this deity in some form in a temple or place of worship. He is referred to as the elephant deity as he supports the trunk of an elephant as his nose. Elephant gods are popular all over the world and people in china, Japan, Thailand, Brazil and Mexico also worship a form of an elephant god.

Lord Ganesh is a lovable god and as such he is the first god that is worshipped. Praying to Ganesh is supposed to bring good fortune and a man rises up further in life. Ganesh represents the Mooldhara chakra, which is the first energy center in the world and represents the earth. That is the reason that learned sages recommend that seeking the blessings of the elephant god before starting a new venture or proceeding on some voyage or important work. He has the power to remove obstacles as he is flanked by his two consorts Siddhi and Buddhi.

Ganesh is represented with a trunk of an elephant. This is perhaps not without significance as the elephant is known to be extremely sensitive to sound waves even below 20 Hertz. This allows elephants to ward of dangers like earthquakes and storms.

Another aspect of Ganesh is that he represents the intellect and thought. He is a fast thinker. Legend tells us that Ganesh entered into a competition with his brother Muruga and they decided to run a race around the earth. Muruga started of with a dash to run around the globe, but Ganesh did something very intelligent. He just circled his parents Shiva and Parvati and that sufficed as he won all the wisdom from them.

Ganesh was advised by his father Shiva to sacrifice the most powerful sacrifice to achieve total benefits. He also told Ganesh that as he Shiva was the most powerful person and it was not easy to sacrifice him, he could as a substitute sacrifice a coconut.Thus when you circle a coconut around your head and break it, it absorbs the lower vibrations and breaking of the coconut symbolizes a renewal of your life.

Ganesh Chaturthi is an annual festival and celebrated with great gaiety all over India. A little known fact is that the Hindu calendar is cyclic in nature.Thus every 60 years Ganesh is supposed to appear in a different form. As per Hindu philosophy the Ganesh who will now appear in future will be a Ganeshwho will be a Ganesh without a trunk or as we say a Naramukha Ganesh: a human headed Ganesh.