God Ganesh - Lord Ganesha

Lord Ganesha, the God Ganesh, God of Success, is worshipped throughout the World but nowhere more so than in South East Asia. Lord Ganesha, the God Ganesh, is one of the most worshipped deities in Hinduism. Lord Ganesha is the God of wisdom and literature and brings wealth, riches and power to his followers. The Lord Ganesh can banish all evils and remove any obstacle. There are many stories about how the Lord Ganesha came to have an elephant head. Some stories say he was born with it, others that his own head was cut off and replaced by the head of an elephant. This is the version we will follow.





Ganesha was the son of the Goddess Parvati. One day she wanted to bathe but there were no servants around to guard her so she created an image from the earth and the oil she was using to bathe with and breathed life into the figure. Thus Ganesha was born. She told him to keep watch over the house and admit no one.
Shortly, Lord Shiva, Parvati's husband arrived and tried to enter the house, but Ganesha blocked his path and would not allow him to enter. Lord Shiva became very angry and with his Trident he cut off Ganesha's head with a mighty blow. Parvati, on hearing the disturbance outside, came out and saw her son's headless body and was furious with Lord Shiva. She pleaded with him to restore life back to her son but Lord Shiva's blow was so powerful they could not find Ganesha's head.
Lord Shiva appealed to the Lord Brahma for help and was told to send out all his people and cut off the head of the first creature found sleeping with its head facing north. They came across an elephant, cut off its head and placed it on the headless body of Ganesha bringing him back to life.





Parvati looked at her son and wept. She said who would pay any attention to a God with the head of an Elephant so Lord Shiva blessed the child and foretold that Ganesha would be worshipped before any of the other Gods. The people would pray to Ganesha before they undertook any kind of activity.
This is the story of The Lord Ganesha.
Without the support of Lord Ganesha, nothing can be accomplished. If you want to be successful in life then you must pray for the blessings of Ganesha and if you receive his help then all the obstacles in tour way will be removed.

There is a Museum in Chiang Mai dedicated to Ganesha. See Ganesh Himal Museum & Gallery for full details + map

A Mantra for Ganesha, The God Ganesh