Ganesha Worship

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Everybody can check in India that temples specifically dedicated to god Ganesh,

as the main deity, are less numerous than expected. We give the name and

location for some of them. They draw on huge crowds, mainly during religious

festivals such the Ganesha-Chaturthi : The Manakkula Vinâyaka, temple in

Pondichery (Tamil Nadu) The Pillaiyarpatti temple (60 km east Madurai, Tamil

Nadu) The Uchhi Pillaiyar temple in Tiruchirappalli (Tamil Nadu) The small

Ganesh temple, where the god form is known as Naramukha Ganapati, Chidambaram

(Tamil Nadu) The Mukkuruni Pillaiyar temple, inside the main

Minakshisundareshvara temple, in Madurai (Tamil Nadu) The small Sveta Ganapati

temple (White Ganesh carved in an monolithic meerschaum block), inside the Shiva

temple, in Tiruvalanjuli, near Swamimalai (Tamil Nadu) Many rock temples,

excavated during the Pandya period, all over the Tamil Nadu region The Ganesh

temple in Ranthambore, near Sawai Madhopur (Rajasthan) The Ganesh temple in

Jaipur (Rajasthan). etc. The temples (mandir) named Ashta Vinâyaka, which

means eight Vinâyaka in the Mahârâshtra region , are also very famous, since

each of them owns a Svayambû Ganesh. They are located in the following

townships, not far from the Pune (Poona) city :

Morgaon : people here pray Ganesh under his form of Lord Shri Mayureshvar. This

Ganesh form, riding a peacock, fighted and defeated Sindhu. Siddhatekgaon :

here, Ganesh bestowed Vishnu the necessary power to subdue two terrific demons,

Madhu et Kaitabha. Paligaon : Ganesh, under his Ballaleshvar form, came and

helped Ballâla, one of his very faithful worshippers, persecuted by jealous

persons Mahad : Ganesh, under his form of Shri Varad Vinâyaka, gave a favor to

Grusmad, which allowed him to become a Rishi . Theorgaon (ou Theur) : here is

located the Ganesh Chintâmani temple. This form of god Ganesh recovered the

Chintâmani jewel , which had been robbed by the demon Guna to the Sage Kapila.

Lenyâdri : The Ganesh temple located in this village is devoted to Shri

Girijâtmaj, a Ganesh form; this name means "born from the Goddess Girijâ"

(Pârvatî). A local legend reports that Ganesh probably spent here, with his

mother, the first fifteen years of his life. Ojhar : Under his Ganesh

Vighneshvara form, Ganesh fighted here the Vighnâsura (Obstacle) devil, who

disturbed the Vedic rituals. Ranjangaon : Lord Shiva, under his Tripurantaka ,

form, just about to fight (and to overcome)the Tripurâsura demon, who had

conquered the Three Worlds and misused his enormous powers, worshipped Ganesh

before the battle.

Furthermore, all or nearly all Shiva temples, include Ganesh icons in secondary

temples (inside the main temple) or, at least, in particular shrines : for

exemple in Chidambaram, in Vellore, in Gangaikondacholapuram, etc. On the other

hand, Vishnu temples generally do not have any Ganesh shrine. This chapter will

introduce some aspects about the Ganesh cult. In a first part will be presented

the exoteric cult, that is to say the popular and daily worship. In a second

part, some indications about esoteric cults will be provided. Ganesh worship

Exoteric worship

Ganesh is always present in the cult to the five main hindu deities

(Pañchâyatanapûja) : Ganesh, Sûrya , Durgâ , Vishnu , Shiva , but the Ganesh

worshippers are mainly devoted to their favorite god. Vishnu is the Master of

Akasha, the ether Sûrya, the Sun, is the Master of Vayu, the air Shakti

(Durgâ), the Goddess commands the energy of fire (Agni) Ganesh represents

water (Apas), the energy of fulfilment; he is the Master of Varuna, god of

waters. This is why, when the Ganesha Chathurti festival ends, clay statues of

god Ganesh must be brought to the sea and immersed to be dissolved. and Shiva

is the Master of the Earth; he is represented by the stone-made Shiva Lingam.

Ganesh is worshipped every day. The five ritual offers are : the red santal

paste flowers encense the light of burning campher food. These offers

represent the Five Elements ether, air, fire, water and earth.

Rituals may vary from one region to another in India; their exact codification

seems to be somewhat complex. The Ganesha Pûjâ, as recommanded by ancient

texts, is described Martin-Dubost (1997). A more detailed description,

including the mantra used during the different phases of the ritual, is given

in Sadguru Sant Keshavadas (1988). Esoteric cults

In the beginning (9th century) , Shankarâchârya stated precisely about the

Hindu main six branches (Shanmata). The branch of the Ganesh worshippers, who

consider this deity as the Supreme One, is known as the Gânapatya branch. Of

course, all of these different branches were considered as orthodox, that is to

say in accordance with the Veda teachings. . The Gânapatya included other gods

in their rituals, but they considered these other gods as part of Ganesh. For

instance, they thought that the Ganesh holly body is made of is navel (Brahmâ),

of his face (Vishnu), of his eyes (Rudra ); his body right side is Sûrya, his

body left side is Shakti . He is the OM sound, he is the Lord of the Five

Elements. The Gânapatya divided themselves, in course of time, in six

sub-branches, characterized by specific rituals adressed to different Ganesh

forms. The fist three sub-branches strictly follow the Vedic prescriptions :

these are the Navanîtaganâpatya, the Suvarnaganâpatya, the Santânaganâpatya.

The three other sub-branches are esoteric ones and worship the following Ganesh

forms : Mahâ Ganapati , the Great Ganapati; his color is red, he owns ten arms

and wears the Goddess seated on his left lap. Mahâ Ganapati is the Ganesh

esoteric form which seems to be most often represented Haridrâ Ganapati with

four arms and three eyes; his color is the curcuma yellow Ucchista Ganapati,

red, seated in the lotus position (padmasana); he embraces the naked Nîlâ

Sarasvatî, Goddess, of a nice blue color. The Ucchista Ganapati worshippers

follow esoteric practices ("the left hand path") very particular, prohibited by

other branches. Those sects (cultual branches) are sayed to be esoteric, since

their devotees are adepts of tantric practices. Some attempts will be given

below to briefly clarify what is tantrism.

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