Kāl-bhairav does not command worship on any auspicious occasion. On the other hand, he is much revered by persons who practise the black art. On Kāli-chaudas day his devotees worship him in a cemetery, offer an oblation of baklan, and recite magic incantations till late at night.[114]
The offerings favoured by Kāl-bhairav are khir,[115] cakes of wheat flour, sugar and vadān.[116][117] The sacrifice of a live animal is also acceptable.[118] The offerings after presentation to the god, are given to black dogs.
Pregnant women in order to secure a safe delivery sometimes vow to abstain from ghi till they have offered an oblation to Kāl-bhairav.[119]
The following lines are often repeated in honour of this god[120]:—
भुक्तिमुक्तिदायकं प्रशस्तञ्चारुविग्रहम् ।
भक्तवत्सलं स्थितं समस्तलोकविग्रहम् ॥
निष्क्वणन्मनोज्ञहेमकिंकिणीलसत्कटिम् ।
काशिकापुराधिनाथं कालभैरवं भजे ॥ १ ॥
(I worship Kāl-bhairav, the giver of food and of salvation, of auspicious and comely appearance, who is kind to his devotees.)
Ganpati or Ganesh, about whose origin the traditional legends prevail, is represented with four hands, in one of which he holds a kamandalu (a gourd), in the second a lādu (or a sweet-ball), in the third a parashu (or an axe), and in the fourth a jap-māl (or a rosary). He is sometimes called Dundalo (lit., big-bellied) because of his having a protuberant belly. He puts on a yellow garment and rides a mouse. His brother is Kārtik-swāmī who rides a peacock. His favourite dish consists of lādus or sweet-balls of wheat-flour fried in ghi and sweetened with molasses. Siddhi and Buddhi are the two wives of Ganpati. Before their marriage their father Vishwarupa had made a promise that he would bestow the hands of both on whomsoever circumambulated the whole Earth within one day. Ganpati reasoned that a cow and a mother are equal in merit to the Earth and by passing round the former, he got the hands of both. Ganpati is said to be the fastest writer of all, so that the sage Vyāsa secured his services as a scribe, at the instance of Brahmā, in writing the Mahābhārat. When Rāvan had conquered all the gods and made them serve in his household, Ganpati had to become a cowherd and to look after cows and goats.[121]