Ganesha Purana

The Ganesha Purana (Sanskrit:गणेश पुराणम्; gaṇeśa purāṇam) is a Sanskrit text that deals with the Hindu deity Ganesha (Gaṇeśa). It is an upapurāṇa (minor Purana) that includes mythology, cosmogony, genealogy, metaphors, yoga, theology and philosophy relating to Ganesha.

The text is organized in two voluminous sections, one on mythology and genealogy (Krida-khanda, 155 chapters), and the other on theology and devotion (Upasana-khanda, 92 chapters). It exists in many versions. The text's composition and expansion date has been estimated to be the late medieval period, between the 13th- to 18th-century CE, during a period of political turmoil during the Islamic rule period of South Asia. The text shares the features and stories found in all major Puranas, and like all Puranas, it is, states Bailey, also a cultural object and reflects the cultural needs and mores, in the environment it was written.

The Ganesha Purana, along with the Mudgala Purana, Brahma Purana and Brahmanda Purana, is one of four Puranic genre encyclopedic texts that deal with Ganesha. The four texts, two Upa-Puranas and two Maha-Puranas, differ in their focus. The Brahmanda Purana presents Ganesha as Saguna (with attributes and physical form), the Brahma Purana presents Ganesha as Nirguna (without attributes, abstract principle), Ganesha Purana presents him as a union of Saguna and Nirguna concept wherein saguna Ganesha is a prelude to nirguna Ganesha, and the Mudgala Purana describes Ganesha as Samyoga (abstract synthesis with absolute reality and soul).

The Ganesha Purana is an important text particularly for Ganapatyas (Gāṇapatya), who consider Ganesha as their primary deity.

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