Hinduism or Sanathana Dharma, to give it it’s proper name, is the oldest world religion that is still practised today. Indeed, it is so old that no one knows when it truly began. The earliest written copies of our holiest books, the Vedas, are more than 5,000 years old. And archaeological excavations along the River Sindhu, investigating the Mohanjadaro and Harapa Civilisations, have unearthed Hindu idols, such as the Shivalingam & Dakshinamoorthy, which are more than 7,000 years old.

It differs from all the other major religions of the world in that it has no one founder or prophet. It was created by a group of rishis, highly elevated spiritual souls, who had realised God within themselves and who created a religion that would help all men to reach God, regardless of intellect, status, caste or creed.

When some people look at Hinduism, they very easily dismiss it as a religion where people worship statues. They see 1000’s of Gods with confusing names and elaborate rituals that seem to have no meaning. And they are at a loss to understand how such a seemingly superficial and complicated religion can have survived for so many 1000’s of years!

This is because they have not delved deeper into the beauty and intricacy of our religion. They do not realise that Hinduism is not polytheistic – it is, in fact, monotheistic – believing that there is only one God – the supreme, formless, omnipotent Brahman.   The different Gods and Goddesses that you see in the Temple are merely symbolic representations of particular characteristics   or functions of that formless God.

Whilst living in this world, our mind is never still. It is always in chaos because of our vasanas or desires - our desire for wealth, for power, for fame etc. With such an agitated mind, we can not concentrate, contemplate or meditate – the path that will lead us to realisation of the God within.

The holy rishis, realising that our concentration was on worldly pursuits, therefore created gods and goddesses, rituals and festivals related to worldly events so that holiness would become part of our everyday life. Even those whose sole aim was to amass wealth, prayed to Luxmi the goddess of wealth and riches, and thus even their material desires were touched with a reminder of divinity. The rishis sought to bring prayer and religion into every part of our lives, and thus from birth to death, we have religious ceremonies to celebrate the various stages of our life – the giving of our name, our first food, the beginning of our education, our coming of age, our marriage, our death – these are but a few of the important times of our lives when we are reminded of the Lord in our thoughts, words and deeds. We even name our children after the Gods and Goddesses, so that even when we call or think of them, we are also thinking of God – remember that when you next shout at your children!

The sheer genius of our ancient sages is apparent in the way that they have made the highest philosophical and religious truths available for all. Whereas higher intellectuals and scholars could imbibe the glory of the Vedas and the Upanishads directly, these concepts were beyond the grasp of the common man. So they were included in the symbolic representations of God that we pray to in our Temples.

When you look at a picture of Lord Ghanapathy, what do you see? You may see a charming, slightly comical elephant-headed God that you have been told to pray to first, before you start anything new. You may know that he is the remover of obstacles, and you may even know many of the puranic stories associated with him. But look closer and you will find a deeper meaning behind the symbols that are in front of you.

The rat, his vahana or vehicle, represents the lowest form of animal; His elephant-head represents the highest form of animal; having also the body of a man shows that he is Ganesha, the Lord of all beings. His large ears and head indicate that he has gained wisdom through listening and reflecting on the eternal truths of the vedas. His head and trunk are curved into the shape of the Om, our most sacred of symbols, representing the primeval sound of creation and our most powerful mantra in prayer and meditation. The importance of the elephant is also that it is a herbivore, eating Sathwic food – a calm and gentle animal that also has immense strength, which it uses only when needed.

The elephant’s trunk is one of the few instruments in nature that can perform both gross and subtle actions – it can uproot a huge tree as well as pick up the tiniest of needles. It signifies the need for us to be able to develop our intellect, our powers of discrimination, in both the gross or material world and also in the subtle or spiritual world.

In His right hand he holds a hook or Ankusa and in His left hand he holds a noose or Paasa. These tools are used back home by elephant-trainers to tame wild elephants. Symbolically, the mind is like a wild elephant, running from here to there, in chaos. So we must use the ankusa to tame and control our mind and then use the noose to tie it down and keep it close to us– only then can we concentrate, contemplate and meditate.

In another hand He holds a dish of Mothakham. This sweet with it’s hard outer shell signifies the reward of the sweetness of knowledge that will give the spiritual seeker joy, satisfaction and contentment as he travels along the path of enlightenment. It also indicates the importance of eating the correct Sathwic food in order to progress spiritually.

Lord Ganesha’s large belly is said to contain the whole universe – and is symbolic of the way we should live our lives. We must be able to accept and digest whatever experiences we go through – be they good or bad. Throughout our trials and tribulations we must be equal-minded and realise that all experiences are learning experiences and will bring us closer to God.

Lord Ganesha sits with one leg folded up and the other leg resting on the ground. The leg on the ground tells us that we can live in the world like anyone else. But the leg pointing upwards tells us that our concentration and meditation should be ever focussed on the godhead within. Rather like the lotus that He holds in his hand, which grows in stagnant water, but raises it’s flowers above the water line so that their purity will not be blemished by the polluted waters underneath, we can live in this world but remain unpolluted by the materialism and negative qualities of our surroundings.

At the feet of our Lord is often spread a huge array of different kinds of food. The food represents material wealth, power and prosperity and indicates that if you do live a life of high ideals & principals, these material benefits will always be available for you, although you will not be attached to them and they will therefore not hinder your spiritual progress.

The little rat, or mooshikham, represents desire. Rats, by nature, are very greedy creatures who will run here and there nibbling and hoarding far more than they need. If a man has desires, he can waste his whole life running here and there, fulfilling one desire, only to replace it with another. Instead, we should be like Lord Ganesha and keep our desires firmly under control, never allowing them to overwhelm us. According to the Vinayaka Puranam, the rat also represents the demon Gajamoohaasura who was destroyed by Lord Ghanapathy. The Lord actually used his tusk to kill the evil entity, the same tusk that He later used to write down our holiest of books the Mahabaratha. Interestingly enough, according to the Puranic stories, all the vehicles of the different Gods and Goddesses represent the particular asuras (demons) that they defeated. Symbolically they represent the ignorance of man, which can be kept under control only by God, in the form of knowledge.

There are 32 forms of Lord Ghanapathy and each has a wealth of Puranic stories attached to it. They include: Balaganapathy, depicting him as a child. Herambaganapathy with five heads, ten hands, 3 eyes in each face and riding on a lion. Vyravignesha, showing his fighting form with many weapons held in his hands. Lakshmiganapathi, with his wife Goddess Lakshmi. And Nrittaganapati, a wonderful image of him dancing. Each of these forms has a wealth of symbolism attached to it. Each will take us closer to the goal that we seek. We just need to delve deeper to reveal the treasures of spiritual and philosophical knowledge that our ancient forefathers have left for us to enjoy.

For those who thirst for spiritual fulfilment, and enjoy the intellectual stimulation of being a “spiritual detective”, the art of symbolism is the perfect opportunity to learn about Hinduism at it’s best. So dust off your deerstalker hat and magnifying glass and begin your search!