Ganesha

 

Ganesha (Gaņeśa) Ganesha God of Obstacles

 

1 Etymology and other names 2 Iconography 2.1 Common attributes 3 Worship and festivals 3.1 Ganesh Chaturthi 4 Associations 4.1 Aum 4.2 Buddhi 4.3 First chakra 4.4 Mouse as vahana 5 Family and consorts 5.1 Buddhi, Siddhi, and Riddhi 5.2 Interpretations of relationships 5.3 Motif of shaktis 6 Rise to prominence 6.1 First appearance 6.2 Possible influences 6.3 Vedic and epic literature 6.4 Puranic period

 

First appearance

Ganesha appears in his classic form as a distinct deity with well-defined iconographic attributes in clearly-recognizable form beginning in the fourth to fifth centuries AD. Shanti Lal Nagar says that the earliest cult image of Ganesha so far known is is found in the niche of the Shiva temple at Bhumra, which has been dated to the Gupta period. By about the tenth century AD his independent cult had come into existence. Narain sums up controversy between devotees and academics regarding the development of Ganesha as follows:

[W]hat is inscrutable is the somewhat dramatic appearance of Gaņeśa on the historical scene. His antecedents are not clear. His wide acceptance and popularity, which transcend sectarian and territorial limits, are indeed amazing. On the one hand there is the pious belief of the orthodox devotees in Gaņeśa's Vedic origins and in the Purāṇic explanations contained in the confusing, but nonetheless interesting, mythology. On the other hand there are doubts about the existence of the idea and the icon of this deity" before the fourth to fifth century A.D. ... [I]n my opinion, indeed there is no convincing evidence or the existence of this divinity prior to the fifth century.