VINAYAKI OR GANESHVARI

VINAYAKI OR GANESHVARI : 

Matsya Purana and Vishnu-dharmottara Purana list even Ganapati’s shakti in the list of female warrior goddesses. Her name was Vinayaki, also known as Ganeshvari. This form of Ganapati is adored in the Vana-Durga-Upanishad.

Images of the female Ganesha start appearing from 16th century onwards. Some are of the opinion that these images, perhaps, represent Malini, the elephant-headed companion of Parvati, nursemaid to Ganesha, occasionally referred to in the Puranas.

The idea of a female elephant-headed deity, whether it is the shakti of Ganesha or the handmaid of Parvati, is an integral part of tantric practices that preferred to see the divine in female, rather than the more dominant male form. This could be because in occult sciences, the female form is seen as the source of all generative powers. While the spark of life came from the male body, life finally was created and nourished by the female body. Or the reason could be more metaphysical. The female form was a code for material resources.

Sages in India have always had this debate between what matters more: the world of thoughts or mental potential or the world of things or material resources. Those who veered towards intangible thoughts eventually came to be associated with Vedic practices while those who veered towards tangible things eventually came to be associated with tantric practices. The former coded their ideas through male forms while the latter coded their ideas through female forms. And so Ganesha, the remover of obstacles, gained popularity in Vedic circles; his female form, Vinayaki, became popular in tantric circles.

Were there stories associated with Vinayaki? We will never know as most of these ideas were oral. What we do know is that the fourth day after the new moon is called Vinayaki Chaturthi. This day is sacred to Ganesha and is named after his female form.

Om Namah Shivay.

source : FB