Wives of Lord Ganesha; Intriguing Married Life of Lord Ganesha

We all are aware of how Lord Ganesha is considered to be the most Supreme God in the Hindu religion. Well, he truly is. He is known to be the Bringer of Success, Joy and Prosperity and is also known as the Destroyer of Obstacles and Evils. But there is not too much info available on the wives of Lord Ganesha and his married life.

Who are his wives? What are stories about Lord Ganesha’s marriage? 

In this article, we will delve into the married life of Lord Ganesha and his wives. 

Very interesting and borderline controversial stories are heard about his marriage. While some stories of Hindu mythology claim him to be a bachelor God, there are prevalent stories about him being married. These stories claim that he was not only married but had two wives- Riddhi and Siddhi.

According to references in the Hindu Literatures, there are two fascinating backstories about Lord Ganesha’s marriage to Riddhi and Siddhi.

According to the Hindu Puranas, though Lord Ganesha is considered to be the most auspicious God in the Hindu Pantheon and is worshipped at the beginning of any holy ritual- especially weddings. But little do we know how difficult it was for Ganesha to find a bride for himself.

Here are two interesting stories. 

Lord Ganesha Marriage Story 1:

Ganesha is not only the most powerful and auspicious God in the Hindu religion but is also considered to be the most lovable, wise and intelligent God. Yet it was very difficult for Lord Ganesha to find a bride for himself as no girl was willing to marry an elephant-headed, pot-bellied man.

For a long long time, Ganesha kept looking for girls who would be ready to marry him, but all his efforts went in vain. This angered him a lot. He was so angry that he started acting out. Ganesha began to create problems and started to jeopardise the marriages of other Gods and demigods.

Especially, he was so mighty and powerful, his violent behaviour began to scare them. He ordered his rats to dig up holes in the path of the Gods procession to his bride’s house. The other Gods faced innumerable problems like this and grew afraid of Lord Ganesha’s anger.

Scared Gods Turns to Brahma for Help

They did not know how to stop him. So they all gathered in desperation trying to find out a solution to calm down the Superior Lord. So they all went to Lord Brahma- the Creator! At first, even Brahma did not know how to stop Lord Ganesha’s behavior. He thought hard and finally came up with a solution.

With his power of creating, Lord Brahma created two beautiful women- Riddhi (Goddess of wealth and prosperity) and Siddhi (Goddess of intellectual and spiritual powers) and called them his daughters. He then gave them away in marriage to Lord Ganesha.

Finally, Lord Ganesha was married and peace prevailed upon cosmos. This is why, many times we see figurines and idols of Lord Ganesha flanked by his wives, Riddhi and Siddhi, on his either side. It is said that Lord Ganesha had two sons and a daughter with Riddhi and Siddhi.

His sons were named Shubha meaning auspiciousness and Labha meaning profit. His daughter is Mata Santoshi who is known to be the Goddess of Satisfaction.