>Bri: Remove "A" as the first word from short descriptions (via WP:JWB)

2021-07-04T14:41:39Z

Remove "A" as the first word from short descriptions (via WP:JWB)

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{{short description|Aspect of the Hindu god Ganesha}}
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| caption1 = Bala Ganapati being bathed by his parents, 18th century [[Kangra painting]]
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| caption2 = Bala Ganapati, Folio from the ''[[Sritattvanidhi]]'' (19th century)
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'''Bala Ganapati''' ({{lang-sa|बाल-गणपति}}, {{IAST|bāla-gaṇapati}}, literally "child Ganapati") is an aspect of the [[Hindu god]] [[Ganesha]] (Ganapati), the elephant-headed of wisdom and fortune, depicted as a child.<ref name="Rao1991">{{cite book|author=Saligrama Krishna Ramachandra Rao|title=Pratima Kosha: Descriptive Glossary of Indian Iconography|page = 145|year=1991|publisher=IBH Prakashana}}</ref>

There are few portrayals of Ganesha as a small boy caressed by his parents, [[Parvati]] and [[Shiva]].<ref name="Rao1991"/> An infant Ganesha is also depicted held in his mother Parvati's lap or over her shoulder.<ref>Nagar p. 18</ref>

Independent portrayals of Bala Ganapati depict as seated or crawling.<ref name="T.K.Jagannathan2009"/> A bronze from [[South India]] shows Ganesha as an infant crawling on his knees. He has four arms. While two of them hold sweet balls, his trunk holds his favourite sweet, the [[modaka]] and curves towards his open mouth, indicating that he is about to eat the sweet.<ref>Nagar p. 19</ref>

Bala Ganapati is also the first of the [[thirty-two forms of Ganesha]] listed in the ''[[Sritattvanidhi]]''.<ref>Martin-Dubost p. 333</ref> He has an elephant head and is depicted like a child.<ref name="Rao"/> Sometimes, he is described to have a childlike facial expression, and not as a child.<ref name="T.K.Jagannathan2009">{{cite book|author=T.K.Jagannathan|title=Sri Ganesha|date=20 August 2009|publisher=Pustak Mahal|isbn=978-81-223-1054-2|page=59}}</ref> He wears a garland of fresh flowers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chinmayananda |first=Swami |author-link=Chinmayananda |title=Glory of Ganesha |year=1987 |publisher=Central Chinmaya Mission Trust |location=Bombay |page = 87}}</ref> He has four arms and holds a [[mango]], a branch of the mango tree, a [[sugarcane]] rod and a sweet-cake.<ref>Martin-Dubost p. 120</ref> Another description states that he carries a mango, a [[banana]], a [[jackfruit]] and a sugarcane stalk. These objects signify the "abundance and fertility' of the earth.<ref name="Subramuniyaswami59">Subramuniyaswami p. 59</ref> The jackfruit may be replaced with a bunch of flowers.<ref name="T.K.Jagannathan2009"/> In his trunk, he holds a modaka<ref name="Subramuniyaswami59"/> or a [[wood apple]].<ref name="Rao">{{cite book|author=T. A. Gopinatha Rao|title=Elements of Hindu iconography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MJD-KresBwIC&pg=PA58-IA69|year=1993|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publisher|isbn=978-81-208-0878-2|page=52}}</ref> He is described to be red-complexioned like rays of the rising sun (''balasurya.b'', child Sun).<ref>Martin-Dubost p. 224</ref> In other accounts, he is said to be golden in colour.<ref name="Subramuniyaswami59"/>

The child god represents the future opportunities of growth.<ref>Subramuniyaswami p. 159</ref> He is prescribed to be worshipped by children to gain good manners. He is also said to grant a child's joy and good health to his devotee.<ref name="T.K.Jagannathan2009"/> There are also some shrines in South India dedicated to Ganesha as a two-armed small boy, where he is known as Pillaiyar ("little child").<ref name="Rao1991"/>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book|last=Martin-Dubost |first=Paul |title=Gaņeśa: The Enchanter of the Three Worlds |year=1997 |publisher=Project for Indian Cultural Studies |location=Mumbai |isbn= 81-900184-3-4}}
* {{cite book|author=Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami|title=Loving Ganesha|publisher=Himalayan Academy Publications|isbn=978-1-934145-17-3}}
* {{cite book|author=Shanti Lal Nagar|title=The Cult of Vinayaka|year=1992|publisher=Intellectual Pub. House|isbn=978-81-7076-043-6}}

{{Ganesha}}

[[Category:Forms of Ganesha]]

Bala Ganapati - Revision history

>Bri: Remove "A" as the first word from short descriptions (via WP:JWB)