Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

GANESA 101witness first, then Gaia and Helios and the Furiesunderground who punish men for having brokenoaths.”In Hellenic times Gaia became Da-meter orDEMETER, the corn mother whose daughter isKORE, the corn spirit. Her attributes include fruitand cornucopiae.GajavahanaGod. Hindu-Dravidian (Tamil). A form of SKANDAwho has an elephant as a vehicle. Mainly fromsouthern India. Attributes: cockerel and spear.Gal Bapsi (‘hook’ god)Local god. Hindu-Dravidian (Tamil) [southernIndia]. Worshiped particularly by the Bhils. Toexpiate sins, the penitent thrusts a hook into hisback and is suspended from it on the day whenthe sun enters Aries.Ganaskidi (humpback)God of harvests, plenty and of mists. Navaho[USA]. He is said to live at Depehahatil, a canyonwith many ruined cliff dwellings north of SanJuan. According to tradition he is the apotheosisof a bighorn sheep. His priest wears a blue maskwith no hair fringe but with a spruce crown andcollar. He has a black bag on his back, filled outwith a twig frame, that appears as a deformity,and he carries a staff.Gandha (odor)Goddess. Buddhist-Lamaist [Tibet]. In Lamaismone of the group of MATARAS (mothers). Color:green. Attribute: conch with sandalwood resin.Gandhari (of Ghandhara)Goddess of learning. Jain [India]. One of sixteenSASANADEVATAS headed by the goddess SARAS-VATI. May also be a VIDYADEVI.GallaMinor underworld gods. Mesopotamian (Sumerianand Babylonian-Akkadian). Attendants of thegoddess EREŠKIGAL. Also Gallu.Ganapati (lord of hosts)1. God. Hindu (Puranic). The more commonlyrecognized name of the elephant god GANESA,particularly favored in western India.2. God. Buddhist (Mahayana). The name of adeity influenced by the Hindu god Ganesa.Depicted riding upon a rat or mouse and carryingan assortment of attributes.Ganapatihrdaya (the heart of Ganapati)Minor goddess. Buddhist (Mahayana). The SAKTIof GANAPATI.Gandha Tara (fragrance-Tara)Minor goddess. Buddhist (Mahayana). Color: red.Attribute: conch with sandalwood resin.GANESA (lord of hosts)ORIGIN Hindu (Epic and Puranic) [India]. God ofwisdom and prudence.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa AD 400 onwarduntil present.SYNONYMS GANAPATI.CENTER(S) OF CULT none specific.ART REFERENCES sculptures generally bronze butalso stone. Reliefs.LITERARY SOURCES late Mahabharata recensionsand Brihaddharma-Purana etc.Ganesa is god of wisdom and art, a benign deitygenerally assumed to offer help when invoked to