alvar—the sage of the elephant’s trunk—and as Vishvaksena. Sometimes he has his own temples too. As he is the favourite son of Siva, he receives honours equal to Siva. His image is with sincere devotion adored by men and women alike. He is supposed to represent the several personifications of sagacity, shrewdness, patience, and learning. As a test of his wisdom, it is related that when he was a child and playing in company with his brother Subrahmanya, Siva promised to present a mango fruit to him who made a circuit round the world and returned first. Subrahmanya summoned his peacock, mounted it and was ready for the journey. But Ganesa calmly went round Siva, his father, and demanded the fruit. “But you never went round the world,” said Siva. "What is the world, but your own holy self? I went round you. Ergo, I went round the world," was Ganesa’s wise reply. Siva was of course convinced, praised Ganesa for his shrewdness, and gave him the promised fruit, which however, he shared with Subrahmanya. The peculiarity of this deity is that his worship is combined as it were with that of every other god. All sects unite in claiming
