Ganesha - Hindu art
Ganesha also known as Pillaiyar, Ganapati and Vinayaka, is one of the best-known and most widely worshipped
deities in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations.
Devotion
to Ganesha is widely diffused and extends to
Jains, Buddhists, and beyond India.
Although
he is known by many other attributes, Ganesha's elephant head makes him particularly easy to
identify. Ganesha
is widely revered as the Remover of Obstacles and
more generally as Lord of Beginnings and Lord of Obstacles, patron of arts and sciences, and the deva of
intellect and wisdom. He is
honoured at the beginning of rituals and ceremonies and invoked as Patron of
Letters during writing sessions. Several
texts relatemythological anecdotes associated
with his birth and exploits and explain his distinct iconography.
Ganesha
emerged as a distinct deity in clearly recognizable form in the 4th and 5th
centuries CE, during the Gupta
Period, although he inherited traits from Vedic and pre-Vedic precursors. His popularity rose quickly, and he
was formally included among the five primary deities of Smartism (a Hindu denomination) in the 9th
century. A sect of devotees called the Ganapatya
(Sanskrit: गाणपत्य; IAST: gāṇapatya), who identified
Ganesha as the supreme deity, arose during this period. The principal scriptures dedicated to
Ganesha are the Ganesha Purana,
the Mudgala Purana, and the Ganapati Atharvashirsa.