According to Hindu mythology, Lord Ganesha is the son of Parvati Devi and Lord Shiva. With an interesting birth story, Lord Ganesh has become an important God that is worshipped all around the country of India. Every Ganesh Chathurthi, families go our and get their own bal Ganesh murti and perform rituals to please Lord Ganesha and get his blessings. As Lord Ganesha has become a popularly worshipped Idol, It is interesting to know how he was built up in a way that had a lot of symbolism and everything that is attributed to him has a reason. For example, his name comes from the word “Gan” which means group. In is fun to notice that the universe is actually a group of various energies and atoms. And it is Lord Ganesha who groups them and keeps them together to avoid a state of Chaos. Therefore, with significances as such, let’s find out some symbolism which can be derived from his appearances.
Symbolisms in Ganesh:
- He’s known for being a generous God. This is symbolized with his big belly which stands for total acceptance.
- The fact that all of us will someday be dissolved into this very Earth itself is signified by the hand gestures. The upraised hand shows protection and the other lowered one depicts giving or a summon to bow down.
- His singular tusk stands for one-pointedness.
- Spiritual awakenings require energy to release in bulk which needs control which is signified by the Paasa (showing control) and Ankusa (Showing awakening) that he carries.
- Last but not the least, of course there is a reason why Lord Ganesha, with a head of an elephant has to travel on an animal as small as a mouse. The mouse knows to nib at binds done by ropes. In this example, the mouse stands for “mantra” and the rope for “sheaths of ignorance” which leads to the ultimate secrets, the power of knowledge that our Lord possesses.