The Ganapati Atharvashirsha is a short Sanskrit text in praise of Ganapati, counted among the later Upanishads and attached to the Atharvaveda. The Muktika's list of one hundred and eight Upanishads names it the Ganapati Upanishad, and the text calls itself an Upanishad in its closing words. It is framed by the peace chant bhadram karnebhih, the same chant that begins the Mundaka, Mandukya and Prashna Upanishads of the Atharvaveda.
The text itself begins by saluting Ganapati as the visible form of reality: he alone creates, sustains and dissolves, and he is Brahman itself. It names him as earth, water, fire, air and space, and as Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, Indra, Agni, the Sun and the Moon, and then describes his form — one tusk and four hands, the noose and the goad, the mouse upon his banner. Among its verses is a Gayatri addressed to Ganapati as the one-tusked.
During Ganeshotsav the Atharvashirsha is recited together in great numbers: on Rishi Panchami, the day after Ganesh Chaturthi, tens of thousands of women gather before the Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati in Pune to recite it. Ganapati's eight Ashtavinayak temples in Maharashtra form a pilgrimage circuit that begins and ends at Morgaon.