In how many lands are Ganesha worshipped! There are shrines dedicated to him in many countries, even outside India.

Hundreds of years ago Hindu missionaries went to different countries. They carried with them the idols of Ganesha who was their supreme deity. They spread their ideas about his form, power and the symbolic significance of his form Merchants used to carry the idols of Ganesha to foreign countries so that their journey and trade may be free from obstacles. Perhaps, Ganesha came to be known to people of other lands for these reasons, Anyway, Ganesha is a popular God even in foreign countries.

Ganesha has different names, forms and symbolic significance in some countries. He is famous in different forms in Tibet, Nepal, Ceylon (now Srilanka), Afghanistan, China, Japan, Indonesia, - Cambodia, Thailand etc. In Burma there is one idol of Ganesha touching the ground with his hand. An idol of Vinayaka in Cambodia has only two shoulders. The idol of Ganapati in a Buddhistic monastery at Kung-Hsien in China carries the Chintamani (a precious gem) in the left hand. (The Chintamani is believed to be capable of granting any boon.)