Good Sources on Lord Ganesha Please

[c.smith]

Hari Om!

Have been asked by a priest at the mandir that I attend to give a short (10 - 15 minute) lecture on the symbolism behind Lord Ganesha for an important upcoming event where several local political figures will also be in attendance.

What I humbly request is that members submit resources where I could do research - either book, internet, or other as appropriate. Perhaps even a short personal story of how Ganesha has contributed to their own lives in a significant way. I know that there are already several resources available throughout the forums and I will certainly avail myself of them.

Thanks to all who can and will contribute.

Jai Ganesha!

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam:

Perhaps you have this one already. Perhaps not. Click on the free text on-line button.

http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/books/lg/

Best wishes with the lecture. Quite the spot they put you in. How much time do you have to prepare?:)

Aum Namasivaya

[Ramakrishna]

Namaste Clayton,

This website diagram looks good for explaining the symbolism behind Lord Ganesha: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_S49ZRy14b1M/So-g1L8NRBI/AAAAAAAAAVI/8fppdsY3XyA/s1600-h/ganesha_symbolism+%28enlarged3%29.JPG

You might also want to tell the story about the birth of Maha Ganapati and how He acquired His elephant head. I believe there is more than one story, but the one I learned growing up, and I believe the most popular one is when Lord Shiva cut off His head. There is rich meaning of the story, and this website seems to explain it well: http://www.amritapuri.org/3714/ganesha.aum

I also have a personal story about the significance of Maha Ganapati in my life, so please PM me if you think it would be useful to you.

May Lord Ganesha remove all obstacles in your path and may He guide you along the presentation.

Jai Ganesha

[PARAM]

Check this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI9bcECooUU

[c.smith]

Question? I've just read that Ganesh is considered an incarnation of both Vishnu AND Shiva which would explain why one would see depictions of the Lord with different tilak in different pictures. Why, and how is this so?