The ancient Indian civilisation has adopted symbolism to represent profound thoughts or teachings that enlighten believers. Often the smallest symbol is like a little seed which conceals a mighty tree. Hindu iconography is imbued with spiritual meaning drawn from mythology, scriptures, and cultural beliefs.

Ganesh Chaturthi is a major Hindu festival that falls on  14^th September this year, and the celebrations continue for ten to eleven days with huge idols of Ganesha being worshipped by massive crowds. The largest Ganesha festival in Australia is celebrated in Adelaide.

Those who are not familiar with this Hindu God, also known as Ganpati, find this potbellied Hindu God with an elephant head, riding a mouse, rather strange. Ganesha is deeply embedded in the Indian psyche and is first invoked in any auspicious or important ceremony. His strange body form is deeply symbolic and meaningful.

This creative imagery of a human body with the head of an elephant reflects the enormous strength of human beings. The elephant is a unique animal not just due to its size but also its compassion, sensitivity, and intelligence. It thus has the strength to think without limits and remove obstacles in life.

The large head of Ganesha symbolises high, intellectual, and clear thinking. His pot belly represents the Cosmos. We come from here and return to the Cosmos. The stomach is also symbolic of the entire Vedic knowledge.

Ganesha’s trunk represents the Om symbol. When an idol represents his trunk curved to the left, it depicts the energy flow of the Moon energy channel, which occupies the left side of our body and is responsible for qualities of the mind such as calmness, tolerance, patience and our creative abilities. The trunk also symbolises that there is no straight path to success; be flexible and adaptable.

Ganesha with his trunk turned to the right direction is indicative of the Sun channel within our body. This Ganesha helps in attaining ultimate happiness and moksha. The trunk also symbolises that there is no straight path to success; be flexible and adaptable.

In one hand, Ganesha holds a Lotus, symbolising the beauty of rising above the muck of mundane existence. In his second hand, he holds an axe or a hatchet to cut all the bonds of attachments. At times he holds a noose to draw his devotees closer to the spiritual path. This signifies detachment from all past karma and narrow beliefs. In the third hand, he holds a laddu or round-shaped sweet signifying pleasures of knowledge, wisdom, and meditation. The fourth hand blesses everyone and symbolises having no fears.

The large ears of Ganesha symbolise the hearing of good and filtering out all that is evil. The little mouth symbolises less talking and more hearing. The small eyes symbolise attention to the minutest things in life. The elephant has very small eyes but has a very sharp eyesight.

The four arms symbolise the subtle attributes of the mind, intellect, ego, and conscience. Lord Ganesh represents the pure consciousness which enables these four attributes to function in us.

Ganesha rides a mouse because our thoughts and desires keep scurrying around like a mouse; hence, by riding a mouse, one can control negative thoughts and concentrate without any distractions.