Ganesh

While house hunting recently we stayed at a Travel Lodge in the town of _ . The owner of this establishment was born in Indian and he had statues of Ganesh (the Protector of travelers) all over the lobby. This soon became know to us as Ganesh's Travel Lodge. Behind the lobby desk, on the back wall was a large yellow 3-D sign saying "Welcome to Travel Lodge". The Owner had placed little wooden statues of Ganesh in every niche and cranny. As it turned out, he and I are both very early risers, so we got to talk a bit about Ganesh over coffee and muffins. He was a nice man and I learned a lot.

When I came home, I did a little bit of research on Ganesh, and shared these with my friend Rowan, who knows him well.

During my search I came across this image of Dancing Ganesh - it is made out of granite and weighs several tons. I want one.

Other images from this company can be found here:

I also found writing on Ganesh that intrigued me greatly, especially when it came to his powers of problem solving (and giving!).

While at Powells, I found a journal with Ganesh on the cover. I liked it so much I bought it and brought it home. I use it now for listing obstacles - all kinds.

I like any God who manages problems and then shifts them, as needed.

Victorian Way sumed it up very well:

For the Hindus he serves as obstacle remover. Buddhists regard him as obstacle placer. In fact, of course, he serves to solve problems, i.e. by taking them away from those who can't solve them and by providing those who can solve problems with some very tough ones.

That came from the folks at Victorian Way Sacred Garden. To my delight, I discovered that they also have an Irish Ganesh.

Best of all, the chocolate Ganesh is here at Chocolate Deities:

When I make up my religion the only required form of worship will be to eat chocolate, garden and dance. The church will be a petting zoo. Every girl gets a horse when she turns 12, cats will once again be gods and all dogs guard heaven.

Sia