Ganesha has been ascribed many other titles and epithets,
including Ganapati (Ganpati) and Vighneshvara.
The Hindu title of respect Shri (Sanskrit: श्री; also spelled Sri or Shree)
is often added before his name.
The name Ganesha is a Sanskrit compound,
joining the words gana (gaṇa), meaning a group, multitude, or
categorical system and isha (īśa), meaning lord or
master. The word gaņa when associated with Ganesha is
often taken to refer to the gaņas, a troop of semi-divine beings that form part
of the retinue of Shiva, Ganesha's father. The term more generally
means a category, class, community, association, or corporation. Some
commentators interpret the name "Lord of the Gaņas" to
mean "Lord of Hosts" or "Lord of created categories", such
as the elements. Ganapati(गणपति; gaṇapati), a synonym for Ganesha, is a
compound composed of gaṇa, meaning "group", and pati,
meaning "ruler" or "lord". Though the earliest mention
of the word Ganapati is found in hymn 2.23.1 of the
2nd-millennium BCE Rigveda, it is however uncertain that the Vedic term
referred specifically to Ganesha.The Amarakosha, an early Sanskrit
lexicon, lists eight synonyms of Ganesha: Vinayaka, Vighnarāja(equivalent
to Vighnesha), Dvaimātura (one who has two
mothers), Gaṇādhipa (equivalent to Ganapati and Ganesha), Ekadanta (one
who has one tusk), Hereamba, Lambodara (one who has a pot
belly, or, literally, one who has a hanging belly), and Gajanana (gajānana);
having the face of an elephant.
Vinayaka (विनायक; vināyaka) is a common name for
Ganesha that appears in the Purāṇas and in Buddhist
Tantras. This name is reflected in the naming of the eight famous Ganesha
temples in Maharashtra known as the Ashtavinayak (Marathi: अष्टविनायक, aṣṭavināyaka). The
names Vighnesha (विघ्नेश; vighneśa) and Vighneshvara (विघ्नेश्वर; vighneśvara) (Lord of
Obstacles) refers to his primary function in Hinduism as the master and
remover of obstacles (vighna).
A prominent name for Ganesha in the Tamilo Language is Pillai or Pillaiyar A.
K. Narain differentiates these terms by saying that pillai means
a "child" while pillaiyar means a "noble
child". He adds that the words pallu, pella,
and pell in the Dravidian family of languages signify
"tooth or tusk", also "elephant tooth or tusk".Anita Raina
Thapan notes that the root word pille in the name Pillaiyar might
have originally meant "the young of the elephant", because the Pali word pillaka means
"a young elephant".
In the Burmese Language, Ganesha is known as Maha
Peinne derived from Pali Mahā Wināyaka. The
widespread name of Ganesha in Thailand is Phra Phikanet.. The earliest images and mention of Ganesha names as a major
deity in present-day Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam date from
the 7th- and 8th-centuries, and these mirror Indian examples of the 5th
century or earlier.
In Sri Lankan Singhala Buddhist areas he is known
as Gana deviyo, and revered along with Buddha, Vishnu
Skanda, and others.
Ganesha, Madhya Pradesh, c. 750, India
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