Once, Parvati wanted to know the reason of the sheer grace on Shiva’s face whenever he was in meditation. “Tell me who you pray to, my Lord,” she asked Shiva. Shiva said it was due to Ganesha’s Mantra. On being asked whether she could achieve it too, Shiva said to Parvati, “Yes, but you will have to chant it peacefully, with full devotion and concentration.” An eager Parvati soon set off to a cave in a huge mountain Lenyadri that was situated in a village called Jirnapur. In order not to lose focus, she placed a statue of a child in front of her and commenced stringent and deep penance, chanting Ganesha’s Mantra. After many years, the statue in front of Parvati turned into a child with a trunk and four arms. Parvati is the daughter of a mountain (Girija) and Ganesha is her child who took birth from her soul (Atmaj). So, this form of Ganesha had the name of ‘Girijatmaj’.
Girijatmaj Ganesha
