Lord Ganesha is the most widely worshipped and best known Hindu God. His image can be found throughout in India and Nepal. Hindu sects or denominations worship him regardless of affiliations. Devotion to Ganesha is diffused widely and extends to Buddhists, Jains and beyond India. He is considered as the first of gods, so he is worshipped at the start of any action or venture. He is honoured at the beginning of rituals and ceremonies and invoked as patron of letters during writing sessions. Lord ganesha is considered as the remover of obstacles of his devotees, and hence he is called as Vigneshwara, vignam means obstacles. Lord Ganesha is known by many attributes, but his elephant head makes him easy to identify, he has an elephant head and four arms. He holds the paasam(noose) and ankusam in his upper two hands and in the lower two hands holding abhaya and varada mudras. He is fond of various sweets and fruits and hence has huge belly. He generally has seated, standing and dancing postures. Ganesha is revered as the remover of obstacles, and more generally as a a Lord of Beginnings and Lord of Obstacles. He is the patron of arts and sciences, the deva of intellect and wisdom.

Lord Ganesha is considered as a bachelor, but some schools say he has two shakthis namely Siddhi and Buddhi. Siddhi is the representation of Success and Prosperity where as Buddhi represents Wisdom. His vahana is a Mooshikam or minjur(tiny mouse). Several texts relate mythological anecdotes associated with his birth and exploits and explain his distincy iconography.

Some of his names:
Ganapathi - head of Shiva ganas
Gajanana - the one with elephant face
Vigneshwara - the one who removes obstacles
Pillaiyaar
Vinayagar

Ganesha Gayathri mantram
om tat purushaaya vidmahae
vakra dhundaaya dheemahi
tanno dhandhi: prachodayaat