The Tales of the Elephant God – Stories of Ganesha

India might be a land where there are innumerable gods and goddesses who are worshipped, but there is a stronger sense of spirituality that pervades almost every aspect of life. It will come as no surprise that you will see some form of brass lamp or something similar in almost every home, or perhaps you will see an urli appear for a festive occasion. And then there are the religious figures – from innumerable avatars, there are some that rank higher in terms of popularity. The ishtdevta or beloved god of each person might be different, but there are some who make for incredibly beautiful interior décor options and Ganesha would have to rank high on that list. There are very few people who do not like the elephant headed God and how he tends to look not only in idol form, but also in paintings and abstracts. 

At Samskara Home, we go beyond the Ganesha statue – while our main intent happens to be reintroducing that sense of divine into your lives in an effortless way, we also want to give you the chance to make your home look pretty too. This is why, at Samskara Home, you will be able to fine some of the finest décor pieces, with a touch of the spiritual to each of them. So, if you also like the adorable Ganesha seated on top of the scooter that you noticed while browsing through our site, you will love listening to some of the lesser-known stories about him too. 

• His single tusk – Ganesha is often called “ekdantaya” or he with a single tooth – in the case of the elephant headed God, the tooth translates into his tusk. There are two stories that are associated with his missing tusk – as per one story, when Ved Vyas was getting ready with his epic, Mahabharata, he approached Ganesha to write it. The only condition that was kept forth was that the entire epic had to be written in one go, without any breaks. As Ganesha started writing for says, his quill broke and he chose to simply break off his tusk and fashion another writing instrument. The other version is about his fight with Sage Parshuram – once, he was guarding the door for Lord Shiva, when Parshuram came to meet him. However, when he was denied entry, he lost his temper and a massive fight ensued, during which Ganesha lost one tusk.

• His play date with a cat – While stories related to Ganesha’s birth are known to a lot of people, his childhood is comparatively unknown. There is one story related to a cat – once a naughty little Ganesha found a cat and decided to play with it. Not knowing that it was hurting the cat, he tossed the cat around, pulled its tail and threw it to the ground. Eventually getting bored, Ganesha returned home to see his mother Parvati, on the floor, badly hurt and bruised. When he rushes to her in fear and worry, she tells him that it was her in the form of a cat. She had wanted to spend some time playing with her son, but she had been treated ruthlessly, leaving Ganesha feeling horribly sad. 

• Ganesha and Kaveri – It is said that a long time ago, Sage Agastya wanted to create a source of water for the people of South India. He set off trying to find the perfect location to start a river, with his kamandala filled with sacred water. As he reached Coorg, he wanted to take some rest, but had no place to set the kamandala down. Seeing a young boy, he asked him to hold the pot of water. The boy being Ganesha, knew the exact spot to place the kamandala down, and as soon as the pot tipped over, the river, which was named Kaveri, started to