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Ganesha has been represented with the head of an elephant since the early stages of his appearance in Indian art. [53] Puranic myths provide many explanations for how he got his elephant head. [54] One of his popular forms, Heramba-Ganapati, has five elephant heads, and other less-common variations in the number of heads are known. [55]
Ganesh Elephant Head. Hindu religion presents many stories, which explain how Ganesha obtained his elephant or gaja head. Often, the origin of this particular attribute is to be found in the same anecdotes which tell about his birth. The stories also reveal the origins of the enormous popularity of his cult.
She does not have a consistent name and is known by various names, Stri Ganesha ("female Ganesha" [3]), Vainayaki, Gajananā ("elephant-faced"), Vighneshvari ("Mistress of the remover of obstacles") and Ganeshani, all of them being feminine forms of Ganesha's epithets Vinayaka, Gajanana, Vighneshvara and Ganesha itself.
He is red in colour. He has four arms. His low right hand shows the movement of lack of fear (abhaya); the two others wear the elephant goad and the noose; the last hand, who holds a lemon, embraces the goddess. With the top of his trunk, Shakti Ganapati holds a cake. Dvija Gaṇapati "Ganapati the Twice-Born"
He has four arms. While two of them hold sweet balls, his trunk holds his favourite sweet, the modaka and curves towards his open mouth, indicating that he is about to eat the sweet. [4] Bala Ganapati is also the first of the thirty-two forms of Ganesha listed in the Sritattvanidhi. [5] He has an elephant head and is depicted like a child. [6]
In addition, the eight guardian deities who preside over the points of the compass each sit on an elephant (world elephant). Each of these deities has an elephant that takes part in the defense and protection of its respective quarter. Chief among them is Airavata of Indra. There is a reference to Airavata in the Bhagavad Gita:
India and Hinduism have influenced many countries in other parts South Asia, East Asia and Southeast Asia as a result of commercial and cultural contacts. Ganesha is one of many Hindu deities who reached foreign lands as a result. [1] Ganesha was a deity particularly worshipped by traders and merchants, who went out of India for commercial ...
The elephant is the state animal of Kerala and is featured on the emblem of the Government of Kerala, and previously on the coat of arms of Travancore. The elephant is also on the flag of the Kingdom of Laos with three elephants visible, supporting an umbrella (another symbol of royal power) until it became a republic in 1975. Other Southeast ...