8 Avatars Of Lord Ganesha To Destroy The Evil

Lord Ganesha is said to be the “God of the Beginning”. Be it any ritual or any new beginnings, nothing starts without the worship of Lord Ganesha. Ganesha has also taken different incarnations to save the world from evil. According to religious history and findings, Lord Ganesha took many different avatars to destroy evils that destroyed peace on Earth.

Just like Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu had taken many avatars, Lord Ganesha also had taken many different avatars. These 8 avatars of Lord Ganesha are symbols of protecting people from 8 kinds of doshas – Kaam, Krodh, Mad, Lobh, Matsar, Moh, Ahankara, and Agyana.

1. Ekdant

This avatar of Lord Ganesha was responsible for killing the demon Madasur who became the powerful demon and he started harassing the gods. When all the gods worshiped Lord Ganesha for saving them, he incarnated as Ekdant.

2. Vakratunda

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Lord Ganesha took this avatar to kill the Matsrasur. Matsrasur was a dedicated devotee of Lord Shiva and he was blessed with ‘fearlessness’ against any living creature in the world. With Devguru Shukracharya’s permission, Matsrasur started harassing and torturing the gods.

3. Gajanana or Gajavaktra

Gajanan avatar of Ganesha defeated the Asura named Lobhasura. The gods, tyrannized by his demonic rule, approached sage Raibhya who helped them to pray to Lord Gajanana. Lord Vishnu then went to Lobhasur as a messenger of Lord Ganesha, apprising the demon of the latter’s strength. Convinced by his words, the demon surrendered without putting up a war.

4. Lambodar

At the time of Samudra Manthan, when God Vishnu had taken the form of Mohini; Lord Shiva got attracted towards her. He had ej**ulated that time and a devil called Krodhasur was born. Krodhasur worshiped to Sun, and back in blessing, he received the power to rule the world. The gods undertook recompense to request the grace of Lord Ganesha in the form of Lambodara.

5. Mahodar

When Lord Kartikeya had killed Tarkasur, who was the king of asuras, then Shukracharya created Mohasur to destroy Devalok and kill all the gods. To save Devlok and to get rid of Mohasur, all the Gods together worshiped Lord Ganesha and therefore he incarnated in this avatar.

6. Vikat

This avatar of Lord Ganesha was responsible for defeating the Kamasur monster.

7. Vighnaraj

This incarnation of Lord Ganesha defeated Mam, a demon who was born from Parvat (the mountains).

8. Dhumravarna

Ganesha’s mission this time was to defeat the Ahamkarasur, the demon of self-infatuation. The word “Aham” means the human ego, which further grips the human mind with cruelty and deception.