The book opens with a consideration of the various myths of Ganesa, stories of his birth, his beheading by his father Siva, and his subsequent restoration as the lord who gives, or withholds, success in undertakings. These mythic themes are then analyzed in relation to ritual, psychological, and religious aspects of Hindu culture. Later chapters explore the historical and ethnographic context of the cult of Ganesa in the Marathi-speaking region of India where his ...
