Nepal: Small Ganesh shrine at the side of a footpath in the Kathmandu Valley

Ganesha, also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh, and also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the deities best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations. Devotion to Ganesha is widely diffused and extends to Jains, Buddhists, and beyond India. Ganesha Chaturthi is the Hindu festival celebrated in honour of the god Ganesha, the elephant-headed, remover of obstacles and the god of beginnings and wisdom. The festival, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi, is observed in the Hindu calendar month of Bhaadrapada, starting on the shukla chaturthi (fourth day of the waxing moon period). The date usually falls between 19 August and 20 September. The festival lasts for 10 days, ending on Anant Chaturdashi (fourteenth day of the waxing moon period). The most revered Hindu site in Nepal is the extensive Pashupatinath Temple complex, five kilometres east of central Kathmandu. The focus of devotion here is a large silver Shivalingam with four faces of Shiva carved on its sides, making it a 'Chaturmukhi-Linga', or four-faced Shivalingam. Pashupati is one of Shiva’s 1,008 names, his manifestation as 'Lord of all Beasts' (pashu means 'beasts', pati means 'lord'); he is considered the guardian deity of Nepal.