Why does ganesha have a trunk?

Answer 1

There are a few different stories of why but I will tell you the one I know best. Shiva was off at war and his consort Parvati wanted someone to guard the entrance to there home. Parvati decided to create Ganesha (because she is a goddess she has the power to do this herself) she told Ganesha to guard there home and not let anyone in. When Shiva came back from the war Ganesha did not know who he was and refused to let him in. Shiva became angry and cut off his head. Parvati came running outside extremely sad and upset. She explained to Shiva that it was there son and Shiva ran off to get him a new head. He saw a baby elephant and cut off its head and put it on Ganesha. bThat is why Ganesha has a trunk.

Answer 2

Ganesha is symbolic of the mechanism called Competitive blockade.

Competitive blockade/ Vighna:

If two thoughts try to enter the conscious mind at precisely the same time neither of them nor any other thought can enter the conscious mind. This would result in abolition of all movements, emotions, feelings and thoughts leading to false peace and false self-control.

The secret behind the power of Ganesha:

If the blockade fails then there would be exchange of emotions between the blocking thought and the thought to be blocked.

Thus, the small power we can afford for a task (symbolized by modaka) can be bartered for the mighty power of a socially unacceptable activity.

Thus, Ganesha would enable us to execute a mighty task with very little power.

The byproduct of the blockade:

The socially undesirable activity would get associated with the small power we had for our task (symbolized by modaka). This weakened socially undesirable activity can't find an outlet in the real world. Therefore, it has to be stored in an unwanted part of our mind.

The protruding belly:

Since food is used to symbolize power of undesirable thought stomach is chosen to

represent unwanted part of our mind.

Therefore, the protruding belly of Ganesha is symbolic of the unwanted part of our mind.

Answer 3

Its a Modhaka - An Indian Sweet!

A modak is a sweet dumpling popular in Western and South India. It is called "modak" in Marathi and Konkani, "modhaka" or "kadubu" in Kannada, "modhaka" or "kozhakkattai" in Tamil, and "kudumu" in Telugu.

The sweet filling is made of fresh coconut and jaggery while the shell is of rice flour. The dumpling can be fried or steamed. The steamed version is eaten hot with ghee. Modak has a special importance in the worship of the Hindu god, Ganesha.

Modak is believed to be his favorite food and hence is also known as Modakapriya.