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I've rarely seen idols of Lord Ganesha with his trunk turning towards the right.

As far as I know, people say that Ganesha idols having the trunk turning towards the right should be given extra care in the form of daily worship, and similarly, they have to look after the idol carefully. Why is that so?

For example, we have Siddhivinayak temple here where Lord Ganesha's trunk turns to the right:

Siddhivinayak

Compared to Lal Baugh cha Raja where the trunk turns towards the left:

Lal Baugh cha Raja

Vineet Menon
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Mr. Alien
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    I think there is no significance of the trunk turning left or right. these all are human's new ideas and formulas.. no scriptures written, i will wait if any there – Kailash Chandra Polai Oct 12 '17 at 06:48

1 Answers1

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Ganesha Idols exhibits both, right handed and left handed trunk.

Right handed trunk

These idols are called Dakshinamurthy or Dakshi­nabhimukhi, which means they are south facing. South direction leads to Yamalok (the abode of Yam, Lord of Death) while right direction symbolizes Surya Nadi (The Solar Channel), which gives radiant glow to the person who has activated it. It's for this reason, such Ganesh Idols are caled Jagrut (active).

Hindujagruti says about right handed Ganesha Idols not worshipped,

The dakshinabhimukhi idol is not worshipped ritualistically in the usual manner because tiryak (raja) frequencies are emitted from the south. The ritualistic worship of this idol is performed by observing all the norms of ritualistic worship meticulously. Consequently the sattva component is augmented and one is not distressed by the raja frequencies coming from the south.

Left handed trunk

These murties are called Vamamukhi, which means North facing. Left signifies Chandra Nadi (The Moon Channel) which signifies bliss and Ananda (happiness). This idol can be worshipped ritualistically.

Vineet Menon
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    How can we sure that the details given in this link "Hindujagruti" are true?? – Kailash Chandra Polai Oct 12 '17 at 06:31
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    Dhakshina and vama means right and left? Main reason is right side trunk Ganesa requires much purity and ritual and hence only used where it's worshipped properly. Left trunk is generally used when kept on road side tent... – Kanthri Apr 28 '20 at 19:23