Wedding Invitation God

Prabha's Mom gave him this when he moved to the US

The God of Beginnings

Ganesha is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu religion.  He is revered as the remover of obstacles, the patron of arts and sciences, and the God of intellect and wisdom. He also places obstacles in the path of those who need to be checked.  As the god of beginnings, he is honoured at the start of rituals and ceremonies. The Tamil (Prabha’s language) name for Ganesha is Pillai (பிள்ளை) or Pillaiyar (பிள்ளையார்) meaning "child" or "noble child" as he is the son of Gods.  Some have noted the roots of Ganesha worship to date back to 3,000 BCE.

The story of Ganesha was told to Jen as follows (there are many different stories):  Ganesha was born of the female Goddess Parvati unbeknownst to his father, God Shiva.  One day, as a child, Ganesha stood guard while his mother bathed in the river.  His father Shiva arrived and, not knowing Ganesha, beheaded him, only to learn and mourn that he had killed his own son.  He vowed to remedy the situation by replacing Ganesha’s severed head with the head of the next creature he came upon. For this reason, temples often feature a statue of Ganesha at the entrance standing guard.

Ganesha, therefore, has the head of an elephant. He typically has four arms, but is sometimes portrayed with as many as sixteen. In older versions, he holds his own broken tusk in his lower-right hand and holds a delicacy in his lower-left hand (he loves sweets). In modern versions, he holds his hand turned towards the viewer in a gesture of peace or protection. He typically holds an axe in one upper arm (to remove obstacles) and a noose in the other (to create obstacles).  Ganesha is often shown riding on or attended by a mouse, shrew, or rat.  Subduing the destructive rodent demonstrates his function as Lord of Obstacles.  He is mostly considered to be a bachelor, but sometimes said to be married to the personifications of “intellect”, “spiritual power”, and “prosperity.” He is sometimes said to have children - “prosperity” and “profit.”