Why, in Sanskrit, Lord Ganapati, is described as having four arms but in Tamil as having five?

1) Lord Ganesa's hands:

In Tamil the elephant trunk is called as hands exclusively ('தும்பிக்கை). So Lord Ganesa has five hands and called ஐந்து கரத்தான்.

தும்பிக்கை 'கை' ஆவ‌தால், கரம் ஐந்தானதால், ஐங்கரன் ஆகிரார்.

In Sanskrit it is called as nose, trunk and hand in different words.

In English it is called as trunk only.

Lord Ganesa had only four hands at birth,

Lord Ganesa acquired the fifth hand (elephant trunk) when the elephant head was attached.

Trunk of an elephant:

In human terms the trunk represents the nose and upper lip with the two nostrils running through its full length. In English it is called trunk.

करिनासा karinAsA f. trunk of an elephant

गजनासा gajanAsA f. trunk of an elephant

भुज bhuja m. trunk of an elephant

कर kara m. trunk of an elephant

नागनासा nAganAsA f. trunk of an elephant

करभ karabha m. trunk of an elephant

शुण्डार zuNDAra m. trunk of a young elephant

हस्ताग्र hastAgra n. tip of the trunk of an elephant

In Tamil is called 'தும்பிக்கை'

உட்டுளையுள்ளதும் கைபோல் உதவுவதுமான நீண்ட மூக்கையுடைய யானை (பிங்.). “தும்பியை யரிதொலைத் தென்ன’’ (கம்பரா. வாலிவதை. 51).

தும்பிக்கை = யானைக்கை, துளையுள்ள கை

.2) Edited:

If Tamil is wrong as said by the learned here, Dravidan languages including Malayamam says the same for elephant's trunk.

Proto-South Dravidian : *tumb-i

Meaning : elephant's trunk

Tamil : tumpi-kkai, tumpiccaŋ-kai, tumpicci-kkai

Tamil meaning : elephant's trunk

Tamil derivates : tumpi elephant

Malayalam : tumpi-kkai

Malayalam meaning : elephant's trunk

Kodagu : tumbi-kay

Kodagu meaning : elephant's trunk

Kodagu derivates : bā-tumbi bird's tail (bālɨ tail)

Tulu : tumbi

Tulu meaning : elephant's trunk

Lord Ganapathy was born with four hands and with this tumpi-kkai accounts for five hands!

Only head along with its trunk was replaced and not the legs of the elephant! Elephant has four legs only and not two legs and two hands!!

3) Edited:

In Tamil the trunk is also counted as hand. Five hands and so Lord Ganesa is called as 'ஐந்து கரத்தான்'.

It is easy to say why it is called like that (in Tamil). But difficult to say why it is not called like this (in Sanskrit).

Custom, manners and usage vary with sect to sect.

Rig Veda 2.23.1:

"गणानां तवा गणपतिं हवामहे कविं कवीनामुपमश्रवस्तमम |

जयेष्ठराजं बरह्मणां बरह्मणस पत आ नः षर्ण्वन्नूतिभिः सीद सादनम ||"

"Gananam tva ganapatim havamahe

kavinkavinam upamashravastamam,

jyeshtarajam brahmanam brahmanaspata

a nah shrinvan nutibhih sida sadanam"

The Deity who is hailed as the chief of the celestial hosts (Ganapati) here is called Brahmanaspati. The elephant-faced God as Kavinkavinam, the Seer of seers, Ganapati being the God of wisdom par excellence, and Jyeshtarajam, the Vinayaka commanding precedence over others.

(no mention of elephant face in the entire Rig Veda for Lord Ganesa). Only in Mahabharata Vyasa requested elephant faced Lord Ganesa to write the epic.)

Sri Vidhyarajagopalan's answer is reasonable and acceptable.

In a country like india where differrent types of culture mingled by many kinds of invaders, such differrences in stories and beliefs are common.

'Self thinking, that too in the correct path is not still taught to, we indians. A sector of people like to keep the mass only as 'blind followers' as well as below povertyline ever in our country.

Sanskrit is right and Tamil is wrong. For an elephant, there are 2 legs, 2 hands and one trunk. Nobody can say the total hands are 5. If one can say so, one has to say a bee has 7 hands, that seems very foolish.

sir, while posting this type of question, please change the category to Religion and spirituality, instead of languages.

however, i am forwarding this question to sri vidya rajgopalan sir