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Ganesh

Ganesh is one of the most famous and distinct Hindu deities, immediately recognisable with the head of an elephant and body of a human.

For Hindus around the world, Ganesh is the first deity to be worshipped before others as he is believed to be the remover of obstacles and patron of education. He is thought to be the son of Shiva and his consort Parvati, and was given the head of an elephant by Shiva; as the legend goes, Parvati instructed Ganesh to refuse entry to anyone whilst she was bathing; because Ganesh did this, Shiva decapitated him in anger from being denied access to Parvati and brought him back to life with the head of the first animal that was found.

Also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka and Vighneshwara, Ganesh is popularly depicted with four arms, sitting upon a lotus and with a sweet in his hand which he is famous for being partial to. In many pictoral representations, he is accompanied by his vahana, or vehicle/mount, a mouse. The female form of Ganesh, named Vinayaki, is lesser-known but worshipped as one of the mother-goddesses, as well as a yogini (female master of yoga).

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