Different forms of Lord Ganesha in Chamba Rumals: An Overview Dr. Gagan Gambhir Asst. Prof. Design Dept. (Textile) Apeejay College of Fine Arts, Jalandhar. E-mail- gambhirg25@gmail.com Abstract Lord Ganesha is one of the favorite subjects among the visual artists. He is also known as Ganapati and Vinayaka and is one of the most worshipped God among Hindus. He is also known as the remover of obstacles and patron of arts and science. Before starting of any rituals or ceremonies, Lord Ganesha is worshipped first. The worship of Ganesha was very popular subject among embroiderers of Chamba specially for the rumal and the paintings. A large number of Chamba Rumals depicting Lord Ganesha in different forms are preserved and are on display in many museums in India and abroad. This paper is an attempt to look at some beautiful rumals, housed in the collection of Canada Museum of Textiles, Canada, Indian Art Museum, Calcutta and Bhuri Singh Museum, Chamba. Keywords: - Ganesha, Chamba, Threads, Embroidery, Rumal, Pahari Paintings, Kangra, modak, ladoo, Introduction Embroidery is the ornamentation of any material with pattern or design done with the needle. Though, the Romans considered embroidery as needle painting and a part of other fine arts, but actually embroidery of a particular region is the reflection of the cultural tradition of that region in which it takes birth and gradually develops. Various regions in India have developed their own distinct style of embroidery. That embroidery, more than any other craft, reflects the local tradition, cultural and physical environments. In the Western Himalayan region, lies a beautiful valley – Chamba, which is famous for its unique art form and embroidered textiles, generally known as Chamba Rumals. The embroidery of Himachal is deeply rooted in the traditional folk culture of that place. The designs, colour combination and techniques have been derived from the original culture and heritage of Himachal.