Hi Harry,

Please let us know what this word means according to Huet and Steiner.

Dear Madhav,

I receive 4 replies.

1) Gerard Huet quoting a reply from yourself to him on the same question from 2001.

The following information I got from Madhav Deshpande on 09-05-01, but I can’t find it in the Indology archives (months of May and June 2001 are missing),
so maybe it was in some other place or in a private communication. 

Information about ghṛṣṇeśvara appears in the Marathi encyclopedia Bhaaratiiya Sa.msk.rtikoza, edited by Mahaadeva  Zastrii Jozii, vol. 3, p. 274. 
This work cites several accounts. The first account is referred to a story from the Padmapuraa.na where a devoted woman named Gh.r.s.naa asks Ziva to come and reside in this place. Thus, the name Lord of Gh.r.s.naa.  
The second story narrates interaction between Ziva and Paarvatii. Paarvatii is rubbing (Skt. root gh.r.s) safron on her palms, and out of this rubbing this particular Zivalifga is produced. Therefore, it was called Ghus.r.nezvara > Gh.r.s.nezvara.  
Then finally we are informed that the temple of Gh.r.s.nezvara was built by the same K.r.s.naraaja who built the Kailaasa temple at Ellora. This gives us a possible clue.  
A Ziva temple built by K.r.s.na became K.r.s.nezvara > Gh.r.s.nezvara. 
So we have a number of possible explanations.  

2) From Roland Steiner

Could the first part of the compound be read as dhṛṣṇi "ray of light"?  

3) From Dipak Bhattacharya

ghṛṣṇeśa or ghṛṇeśa?

4) From Seishi Karashima

Please see the attached image from K. R. Norman, Collected Papers VII, PTS 2001. The meaning given there, however, does not fit the compound ghṛṣṇeśa.

(I've attached the page to this posting)