Ganesha

How to recognise Ganesha

1. Elephant headAn elephant head with a curving trunk sits on a human body, the feature that identifies him at once.
2. Broken tuskOne tusk is whole and the other broken, which gives him the old name Ekadanta, the One-Tusked; the broken tusk is often held in a hand.
3. Four armsFour arms is the standard form, though some forms of Ganesha show other numbers, from two up to sixteen.
4. Goad and nooseIn the upper hands he holds a goad (ankusha, an elephant prod) or an axe in one, and a noose (pasha) in the other.
5. Modaka and blessing handA sweet modaka or bowl of sweets rests in the lower left hand, often touched by his trunk, while the lower right holds the broken tusk or is raised palm-out in abhaya mudra, the gesture of fearlessness.
6. Round bellyHis belly is round and protruding, often with a serpent tied around it or worn at the neck.
7. Mouse vehicleA small mouse or rat (Mushaka), his vahana or vehicle, waits near his feet.
8. Red, crown and throneRed is his traditional colour, and he wears a crown, jewelry and a dhoti, often seated on a lotus or a throne.

Names and titles

• Remover of ObstaclesVighnaharta or Vighneshvara, invoked before any new beginning to clear the way
• Lord of BeginningsAs god of beginnings he is honoured first at the start of rites and ceremonies
• The One-TuskedEkadanta, his earliest name, for his single whole tusk
• Lord of the GanasGanapati: gana (group, Shiva's attendants) plus pati (lord)
• Scribe of the MahabharataVyasa asked him to write down the epic as he dictated it; patron of letters

Feast days

• Diwali, Lakshmi-Ganesha Puja8 November 2026
• Ganesha Jayanti10 February 2027
• Ganesh Chaturthi4 September 2027
• Anant Chaturdashi, Ganesh Visarjan14 September 2027