Ganesha, the elephant-headed GGanesha, the elephant-headed God, is known as the God of wisdom and prosperity. He is also believed to be the remover of all obstacles. Ganesha is depicted with four arms and is known for his brilliance. In India, he is a highly revered God, and no prayer or auspicious function starts without invoking him. There is an interesting story in the Ganesha Purana that explains why Ganesha is so important to Hindus.
Once upon a time, there was a debate among the Gods about who was the most important. They went to Lord Shiva and asked him to resolve the dispute. Lord Shiva arranged a competition among the Gods, and he told them that whoever arrived first after going around the entire cosmos would be considered the first God and would always be considered so.
The Gods started mounting their fancy vehicles to go around the cosmos. However, Ganesha realized the futility of participating in this competition since his vehicle was none other than a mouse. He sat down for some time contemplating his next move. Then he had an idea. Instead of going around the cosmos, he decided to circumambulate Lord Shiva. He did precisely that and won the heart and boon of Lord Shiva. Since that day, no auspicious function has started without the invocation of Lord Ganesha.od is the God of wisdom and prosperity. He is a remover of all the obstacles. He is four-armed and is extremely brilliant. In India, he is a highly revered God; no prayer or auspicious function starts without invoking him. There is a story in Ganesha Purana on how this came about.
Once upon a time, there was a debate amongst Gods as to who was most important. They went to Lord Shiva and requested him to resolve the dispute. Lord Shiva arranged for a competition among Gods. He asked Gods to go around the entire cosmos. He told them: that whoever arrived first after going around the cosmos would be the first God and he would always be considered so.
Gods started mounting their fancy vehicles to go around the cosmos. Lord Ganesha however saw the futility of participating in this competition since his vehicle was none other than a mouse. He sat down for some time contemplating his next move. Then came the idea. He decided to circumambulate Lord Shiva instead of going around the cosmos. He did precisely that and won the heart and boon of Lord Shiva. Since that day, no auspicious function has started without the invocation of Lord Ganesha.
