Ganesh and Mars

[Guest guest]

The elephant-headed god

 

 

Believed to be a source of kindness,benefaction,knowledge,creativity

and prosperity,Ganesh shrines are built to inspire peace of mind

 

Somkid Chaijitvanit

Lord Ganesh with his elephant head. Have you ever wondered why this

is so?

 

Originally, Ganesh had a head like the other gods, but after an

unfortunate incident, his head was turned into that of an elephant.

 

Ganesh was the dearest son of Siva and Uma. As he grew up, his

parents held a celebration in his honour and invited many other gods

and goddesses to attend.

 

Unfortunately, Siva forgot to invite Mars, an important god.

Realising his error, Siva ordered one of the guests to go and find

Mars and ask him to attend.

 

When the messenger found the god he was fast asleep. On being

awakened, Mars became angry and demanded to know why he had been

woken.

 

After hearing Siva's wish, Mars roared angrily: "The headless young

Ganesh dares to disturb me."

 

As soon as the god had spoken, Ganesh's head disappeared, causing all

the other gods and goddesses at the celebration to go into shock.

 

When Mars finally arrived at the celebration and saw the headless

young Ganesh, he realised immediately it was his fault.

 

Mars thus ordered his servant to search for a new head for the

unlucky Ganesh.

 

The servant came back with the head of an elephant, and Mars placed

it upon Ganesh's shoulders.

 

Taking pity on his strange-looking son, Siva promoted Ganesh to the

position of God of Art. As a result, anyone wanting to enrich their

knowledge of art would be as well to worship Lord Ganesh.

 

This is why Lord Ganesh is portrayed today with a human body and an

elephant's head.

 

Ganesh also has four arms and a live serpent (naga) that entwines his

body. In his four hands he carries different symbolic instruments: a

lariat (lasso) to keep all immoral desires at bay; a three-pointed

dagger to kill all Maras (satanic elements); an elephant tusk for

destroying obstacles; and a jar which symbolises plentifulness and

accomplishment.

 

Lord Ganesh is widely worshiped by people within the Hindu community

and those of other religions who follow Hindu traditions.

Interestingly, here in Thailand, Lord Ganesh is the most popular of

all the Hindu gods.