Vinâyakî is a feminine form of Lord Ganesha; she has an elephant head and the body of a female. She is commonly believed to represent the Shakti of Ganesh/Vinâyaka. The Matsya Purana mentions Vinayaki as one of the two hundred celestial mothers created by Lord Shiva. Linga Purana mentions Vinayaki as a demonness deity with an elephant head created.
The demon, Andhaka, wanted the goddess Parvati to be his wife. He tried to grab her by force so she called out to her husband, Shiva who immediately raised his trident and impaled the Asura.
But the Asura had a magic power; every drop of his blood that touched the ground turned into another Andhaka. The only way to kill him was to ensure not a single drop of his blood touched the ground, while he was impaled on Shiva’s trident.
Parvati knew that every divine being is a mixture of male and female forms, the male form representing mental potential and the female form representing material resources (Shakti). Parvati therefore called out to all the Shaktis. On her request, every divine being released their female energy who could drink the blood of Andhaka before it touched the ground. Soon the battlefield was filled with the shaktis of every god imaginable. Indra’s shakti emerged as Indrani, Vishnu’s shakti emerged as Vaishavi and Brahma’s shakti emerged as Brahmini. These shaktis drank the blood of Andhaka before it touched the ground. Thus was Andhaka destroyed.
Matsya Purana and Vishnu-dharmottara Purana list even Ganapati’s shakti in the list of female warrior goddesses. Her name was Vinayaki also known as Ganeshvari. This form of Ganapati is adored in the Vana-Durga-Upanishad.
Photography painting of curving of the female Ganesha start appearing from 16th century onwards. But it was curved more thousand years before. Some are of the opinion that these images perhaps represent Malini, the elephant-headed companion of Parvati, nursemaid to Ganesha, occasionally referred to in the Puranas.
What we do know is that the fourth day after new moon is called Vinayaki Chaturthi. This day, which is sacred to Ganesha, is named after his female form.
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