A NOTE ON GANESANI OR VAIHAYAKI

-Ir - - - Ganesani, also known as vainsyaki, vighn&vari,

/ - dane6varIt ~ a ~ a p a t i h ~ d a ~ i , Gajban; and ~ r i - ~ i ~ ~ i ~ I in

various Hindu, Jaina and Buddhist literary works and

epigraphs, is the kakti or the female form of ~anpsa or

vinayaka, the elephant headed god, equally <lorshipped by tne

followers of different ancient Indian religious sects.

Though the origin and early development of the concept of

Gan&ini. is not yet clearly known, she appears in the art by

the early period itself. H.D. Bhattacharya feels that "even

I - a kakti of Ganda [~anisani] was subsequently conceived when

Gan&a became a popular deity"'.

- J

In the sculptures whereever Ganesa is seen with his

wife or female form of kakti, she is not elephant headed but

2 of a simple female form . Here it must be noted that the - - forms such as ~ar%h;l, ~arasimhz, Hayagrivi, vinayakT etc.,

had basically evolved under the Tantric formulations and

were considered independent goddesses, while the identity of

the regular consort-goddesses of the major Brahmanical gods - was a different matter [ e . g . , ~araha has Prthivi the earth

6

goddess, Brahma has ~arasvati, ~umara has Kaumari,vish?u has - or ~~ish?avi, vinayaka has Siddhi and Buddhi, all

3 these having human faced normal goddess-forms . In the - following lines the salient features of vainayaki, who

should not confused with the consort of ~inayaka for the

above said reasons, is given.

ANTIQUITY

In the ~uranas :- The elephant-headed goddess referred to as

~ajinani occupies the first place in the list given in the

45th chapter of th2 ~asikhinda of the Skanda purana4. The

Matsya ~urana refers to the names of two goddesses and of

them one is vainayaki5. But none of these names occur in the

6 list of the yogins aentioned in the ~ g n i ~urina . -

The D&-aahasraxka, which mentions one thousand names - I - - of the Goddess also refers to three names of Ganesani viz.,

- vinayaki, ~ambcdari and ~an~kvari'.

In the Silparatna D. Bhattacharya has published a

literary description of the kakti-~a~a~ati. According to - I 7

this account the female form of ~a~eL.3 i.e., Ganesanl or -

~ainayaki, is altogether different from hakti. Ganapati or

the composite image of ~an&a and his kakti wherein like

~rdhanarihvara, the left half of the body has the 8

characteristic features of a female .

In Jainism :- Jains also worshipped vainzyaki as one of .the

yoginis as avider,ceC by a Jaina manuscript [No. 3961

Preserved in the Harnsa ~ijaya collection of Jaina mandir at

I - Baroda. The manuscript mentions the names of ~angsvari alony

with ~ah>yoginx ~iddhiyogini and many other yogin:s9.

In ~uddhism :- The elephant headed goddess is described in -

Buddhism as ~anapatih~da~a. ~m?t>nanda has given the

following description of the D~V: in his ~harmakG&as&~raha.

- - - Ganapatih~daya ekamukha, dvibhuja , Varada-abhaya

nrty&ana. i .e., ~anapatihrda~a is one faced, two armed

exhibits in her two hands the varada [gift bestowing] and

10 abhaya [fear not] and shows the dancing attitude .

The Elephant Faced Goddess vainiyaki in Indian Art :- There -

are several sculptures of the goddess vainiiyaki. A detailed

iconographic analysis of all the representations so far

known to us of this goddess is likely to shed further light

on this obscure divinity. The identity of the goddess in

sculptural representations is readily revealed from her

essential elephant-headed aspect. However, from the texts

the following characteristic traits of her icon can be

gathered.

- I - Ga?esani's elephant-head is similar to the model of

Gapapati. This is to be an invariable peculiarity of her

image, like the original Gan&a mentioned in the texts by

the epithets such as ~astimukha, Gajamukha, ~ajGnana,

Gajsvaktra or names derived from those of ~a?i:a such as / - -

vsiniyakT, ~ & b d a r z , ~anhsani and Vighpksi .

~arly IUIges :- Probably the earliest representatlvn of the

elephant-headed female divinity can be noticed in a

terracotta plaque, found during excavation at Rair in the

former state of Saipur in ~ajasthanl', assignable to a

period between 1st century B.C and 1st century A.D. The

plaque shows a standing female figure with elephant head and

her proboscis curled to the right. There seems to be an

elongated object in the right hand of the figure.

Several ancient literary works have references to the

12 goddesses having heads of animals and birds . The ~ushina art of Mathura also presents numerous

examples of ~atrika [divine mother] figures with animal and

bird heads, but not a single matrika figure of this period

having elephant's head, has been found yet from Mathura or

any other part of the country13. Similarly a fragmentary / - ~atavahana sculpture of circa 2nd century A.D., from

~maravati aaJ exhibited in the Government museum at Madras

shows a garland-bearing dwarf like Yaksha and Yakshi couple

with heads and ears of an elephant but strangely without the

14 trunks . -

Probably the solitary axample of vainayaki, which can

be assigned to the early Gupta periodr is the standing image

of the goddesses, preserved in the government museum at

Mathura. The imager like many early sculptures of the

c o n s o r t o f ~ a n i d a , i s a l s o on ly two-armed and has a b u l g i n g

b e l l y . She h o l d s a lo tus-bud w i t h s t a l k i n h e r l e f t baud and

n e a r s a t i g e r ' s s k i n , a s i n t h e ~ h u r n a r a l ~ example and t h u s

r e v e a l i n g h e r i d e n t i t y a s v a i n ~ ~ a k i .

Images o f t h e E a r l y Medieval P e r i o d :- A l i c e G e t t y i n h e r

monumental work on ~ a ? e s / a r e f e r s t o t h e v a i n a y a k i image -

housed i n t h e Chaunsatha-yogini temple a t Bheraghat a s t h e

1 6 o n l y f e m i n i n e form o f ~ a n d a known t o t h e a u t h o r i n I n d i a . But r e c e n t d i s c o v e r i e s have b r o u g h t t o l i g h t some more

i n t e r e s t i n g n c u l p t u r z s of vainayak: be long ing t o t h e e a r l y

m e d i e v a l p e r i o d , AsIna, ~ t h z n a k a and N f i t t a poses w i t h o t h e r

v a r i a t i c n s b e i n g t h e i c o n o g r a p h i c d e t a i l s .

The s i x t y - f o u r y o g i n i names g iven i n t h e =asikh&*da

have llrr r~lerltioned by t h e e p i t h e t ~ a j a n a n ; ? [ e l e p h a n t f a c e d ]

a n d s h e i s i n d e e d reckoned f i r s t i n t h e l i s t . From t h e

s e v e r a l J a i r r a l i s t s of y o g i n i s it i s c o n c e i v a b l e t h a t t h e - / 7

name Ganesva rz was a l s o of common occurence f o r d e n o t i n g t h e

sanie g r d d r s s ~ i n ' a ~ a i r l l ~ . she is worshipped t o p r o t e c t

t h e d e v o t e e on s i d e s by h e r f a v o u r i n g hand t h a t b e a r s a

I / parasu. The p a r a s u o r b a t t l e - a x e , however a p p e a r s t o have

been ur lders tood a s h e r c h a r a c t e r i s t i c a t t r i b u t e , s i m i l a r t o

that of G a p p a t i and i k is u s u a l l y found h e l d i n one of h e r

hands i n most of t h e s c u l p t u r e s of t h i s goddess known 30

consort of ~ a n ~ s a , is also only two-armed and h&s a bulging

belly. She holds a lotus-bu8 with stalk in her left hand and

wears a tiger's skin, as in the ~humara'' example and thus

revealing her identity as vainayak?.

Images of the Early Medieval Period :- lice Setty in her

monumental work on ~ a n d a refers to the ~ainiyak? image -

housed in the Chaunsatha-yogini temple at Bheraghat as the

16 only feminine form of an^& ki~own to the author in India . But recent discoveries have brought to light some more

intsresting aculpturts of vain~yaki belonging to the early - -

lnedieval period, ~sina, ~thznaka and Nritta poses with other

variaticns beiny the iconographic details.

The sixty-four yogini names given in the ~asikh~nda

have lier rirel~tionad by the epithet ~ajanana [elephant faced]

and she is indeed reckoned first in the list. From the

several Jairla lists of yoginis it is conceivable that the - I -

nanle Ganesvari was also of common occurence for denoting the

Sane yogini gcbdsss ~i~~ai;;'~. She is worshipped to protect

the devotee on sides by her favouring hand that bears a I /

parasu. The parasu or battle-axe, however appears to have

been ur~derstood as her characteristic attribute, similar to

that of Ganapati and it is uaually found held in one of her

hands in most of the sculptures of this goddess known 'so

far.

K.D. Bajpai discovered an excellent group of eighteen -

~6gini sculptures at ~ohri in Banda district of Uttar

Pradesh. Arnong theset there is also dn image of vainiyak:

seated with her right leg doubled and the left pendant and

resting on the ground. The image is of utmost iconographic

interest, because the goddess instead of holding her usual

attributes, viz., an axe and a lotus etc., carries a vajra

in her left hand and sitting on an elephant, which as known

from sevezal other sculptures, are the attribute and the -

mount respectively of ~ndrani. This sculpture belonging to

18 the ~ratihara period i9th century A.D.] . -

Several fragmentary panels once enshrined in a yoyini

temple at Rikhian in banda district were discovered by the

archaeological survey of India in the years 1909-1910. Among

these is an irtldyt! OF Che elephant headed vainSyak? seated at

ease between the lion-headed ~iirasimhi the boar-headed -

varahi carrying their usual attributes. The four armed -

Vainayaki, wears a crown, a single-beaded graivcyaka and a

sari secured with a girdle at the waist. She holds clock-

wise-a battle-axe, a cobra, a lotus and a staff1' belonging

to the Pratihara period [loth century].

- A unique inlage of ~ainayaki shows her dancing in

- - alidha-pose. She holds a battle-axe and a bowl of sweetmeats

in her upperhands, the lower left probably carries her

damaged tooth, while the left hand is held in dancing

- I gesture as also shown in several images of N~itta-Ganesa

20 from the Khajuraho region . -

The yogini figure of vainiyaki i,s remarkable for

several iconographic points which are not to be seen in

other images of the Goddess. She is dancing in the catura

pose with her legs bent to the inside in dance movements on

toes. It is rather a rare dance pose even in the images of

2 1 Siva not to say of ~a?&a and goddesses . -

A very interesting example of ~ainayaki discovered at

Giriyak in ~ i h a r * ~ is now housed in the Indian Museum,

Calcutta. The Goddess who is not represented as a pot-

bellied figure in the instance, is seated cross-legged on a

lotus seat mounted on a decorated base. She is four armed

and holds in her rear hands a vase and a battle-axe, while

the front hands carry probably a staff or a radish and a

conch. The jatamakuta is very tastefully carved.

Images of the Late Medieval Period :- Images of vainayaki

though rare, are not altogether unknown to the late medieval

south India and the Deccan. An excellent sculpture of the

goddess is found on a pillar of the temple of

~thanurn~la~~sv&i at Suchindram. This sculpture is very

interesting to note that kiritamakufa is tastef u l l ~ carved

She wears bhu javalayas, bihuvalayas. ~raiveyakas,

kankanas , k'eyuras and pcrn6ruka. She has four hands, upper

right and left hands are holding ankusa and pasa

respectively. Lower right is in abhaya while the lower left

in Varada pose. The ~uchindram temple, which is dedicated to

the Hindu trinity [i.e., Brahma, Vishnu and hiva] is located

about three miles south of Nagarcoil on the way to

2 3 ~anyakumari . The famous temple of Nataraja at chidanbaram in

Tamilnadu has an image of 'vainiyak'i, which is very

interesting from the iconographic point of view. The upper

part of her body is quite similar to the elephant headed

vain~yak; figures but strangely enough her lower part is

that of a vyala having powerful claws. A number of ~yalas

like the ~a javyala , sukavyala, ~imhav~ila, sarpavyila, 2 4

kardulavyila, ~hall;kav~ala etc., are known in Indian art .

But nowhere a figure combining the female form of the

elephant-headed god, ~inayaka and a vyila is shown as in the

present sculpture, in the plastic arts of northern India.

Her high karandamakuta, fan shaped ears, prominent breasts

and the following tail at the back are some other worth

noticing details. The Goddess, like many of the images of - I

Ganesa. holds a flower in her right hand and sweetballs

[modakas] in her proboscis and also the extended left hand.

The image which belongs to the Vijayanagara

225

period [16th century A.D.] is still worshipped by the local

people. Another wooden sculpture of ~ainayaki, ance adorning

a ratha [temple car1 belonging to ~andayudhapani temple,

2 5 Palani, is now deposited in the government museum, Madras . This image is datable to the late ~ a ~ a k a period, i.e., 18th

century A.D.

In Karnataka the image of vainayakT presently exhibited

in the Chitrapur math museum, Shirali, North Kanara, shows

her as sea5cd cross-legged on a double lotus seat mounted on

a rectangular base. The four armed goddess holds an axe and

a noose in her upper hands while her lower hands are in

abhaya and varada poses. She wears karandamakuta and other

ornaments. This rare icon is the product of the Vijayanagara

period [Circa 16th century A.D.].

An excellent bronze image of ~ainsyaki from Kerala is

preserved in the staatl museum fur ~olkerkunde, Munchen 2 6

[West Germany]. Here also the goddess is seated cross-legged

on a lotus mounted on a block pedestal. Her right hand is in

abhaya-mudra and the left in varada. The beautiful head-

dress of the Goddess is decked with flowers and she is

profusely adorned with the various ornaments of the period.

Her trunk, running down vertically and curled at the end,

holds a sweet-ball in the typical manner as also shown in

the contemporary images of ~a?&a from Kerala. Her rounded

and full breasts, big belly and Strong youthful physical

form are the characteristic features of the late ~eralese

art and suggest the date of the image to the late chka

period [Circa 17th century A.D.]. Surprisingly in Andhra

Pradesh no sculpture of vainiyaki is noticed.

It can thus be ?resumed that Vainayaki was worshipped

as one of the sixty four yoginis and also as an independent

goddess. ~ainayaki, being the female energy of Vinayaka,

gradually occupied an important place in the Hindu

mythology. The popularity of the goddess seems to have

increased in the early medieval period and she was

invariably given an important place in the temples of

~haunsatha-yoginis. At the same time, the multiplicity in

forms and attributes can also be noted with interest which

must have been introduced with the rising popularity of

tantric rituals and practices.

REFERENCES

1. Sharma~ B.N. I Iconography of Vainayaki, p. 23. -

2. he earliest of such forms of ~a&a with his human

faced consort is of the Gupta period from Rhumara. In

medieval iconography there are many such sculptures.

see Alice Getty, ~an&a : A Monograph on the Elephant

Faced God, P1. 3a, 4a and b.

3 . Agrawala , P .K . , Goddess viniiyaki, the Female ~anika,

P. 18.

4. ~kanda~urana, ~asikhanda Ch. 45. PP. 34-41. ~uoted by

Sharma, B.N. ,n.l.

Agrawala, V.S., ~atsyapurina : A Study. PP. 276-77.

Banarjea, J . N . 1 Puranic and Tantric Religion. PP.128-29.

Sharma, B.N., n. 1, P. 24.

Sircar, D. C. , "~rdhan~rl-~ana~ati? JAIH, IV, Calcutta.

PP. 181-86.

Bhattacharya, E.C., The Jaina Iconography, P. 137.

Bhattacharya, B., The Indian Buddhist Iconography, P.

343.

Sharma, B.N., n. 1, P. 26, Fig. 1.

Joshi, N.P., Catalogue of the ~rahmanical sculptures in

the State Museum, Lucknow, Pt-It PP. 55-65 and Figs.

Agrawala, P.K., n. 3 , P- Z1-

14* COomarswam~t A.K. , Yaksas, Part I. P1 23 Fig. 1; Sarnm,

I * K * 1 "A unique nshnisha [coping stone] f rorr! maravati"

in JmSt XXXVt 1 9 7 5 - 7 6 . PP. 280-281, Pis. 4 2 [ B ] ,

43[A].

15 * Sharamamurthy , C . , Royal Conquests and C~ltaral

Migrations in South India and the Deccau. p l . VIII . 16. Alice Getty, n. 2, P , 30, pl. 40.

17. Agrawala, P.K., n. P. 13.

18. Sharma, B.N., n. 1, P. 29, Fig. 7 .

19. Ibid.# P. 30, Fig. 10.

20. Ibid., P. 31, Pl. 13A.

f 21. Agrawala, V.S., ~iva-~ahidbva, The Great God. p l . XVIII

22 . Sharma, B.N., n. 1, PP. 35-36.

23. Ibid., PP. 36-37, Fig. 39.

24. Ibid., P. 37, Fig. 24 .

25. Ibid., PP. 37-38, Fig. 2 5 -

26. Ibid., PP. 38-39.

APPENDIX - B

GANESA BEYOND INDIA

The worship of Gan<;a spread to other Asian countries

quite early. The Buddhists included this deity in their own / pantheon and thus ~anesa travelled to distant lands along

with ~uddhism. In South-East-Asia he was worshipped as a

~ i n d u god whereas in the Far-East, he was adorned as a

~uddhist deity. The following account clearly shows that the

pot-bellied and elephant-headed god was worshipped almost

all over Asia and as such he is perhaps the only ~indu deity

whose worship was so widely distributed in terms of space

and time1. The worship of this god along with other deities

can also be seen in Afghanistan, Nepal, Tibet, hota an,

Mongolia, krilahka, Burma [~yanmar 1, Thailand, ~ambodia,

2 champa, ~ i v a , Borneo, China and Japan .

However, it may be noted that Vanden Eierghe3 discovered

an interesting plate on which a picture of the elephant-

faced god is carved. It was discovered in Luristan in

Western Iran. According to him this belongs to a period

between 1200-100 B.C. In this plate the elephant-faced god

is depicted as a young warrior holding a double-edged sword

in his left hand and in right hand the tail of the snake-a

naga, perhaps a keshanaga, the head of which is placed in

front of his feet. A trisila is seen on the right side.

I - K - sarma4 describes this sculpture. The head is skiown in

the centre Perhaps symbolizing the Sun. Overhead of Surya is -

an amalaka-shaped object and above it a padma. ~t the

extreme right another hand is shown holding sword similar to

that of the elephant-headed god. The dress of the god is

interesting and recalls in some respects the typical Kushana

dress, long coat with tight trousers and boot. The serpent

in the hand symbolises the Sarpadanda. It is interesting to

note that in tantric description of ~a~;&a, the god is

described as holding an axe and a snake in his hands.

1. Afghanistan:- In Afghanistan two ~thsnaka images of

- I Ganesa came to light recently which are ascribed to the

Gupta period. However, they appear to be rather doubtful

specimens. Among these, one was found at Gardez which is 70

miles from Kabul. This sculpture was a typical product of

the Indo-Afghan school. "It is made of inferior marble and

is about 60 crns. high and 35 crns. broad bearing on its

pedestal an inscription in two linestg5 which reads : "This

image of ~ahavinayaka was installed by Parama-Bhattaraka

Shahi Khinigila on the 13th day of the bright half of

Jyestha month in the year 8". Dr. D.C. sircarhpines that

he may as well be regarded as some ruler of ~apisa or ~abul.

It wears simhacharma as his nether garment. No other statue

of +-his type has been found in Indian territory so far. It

depicts the god in the ;lidha pose. his hands, legs and the

chest are muscular suggesting a strong elle en is tic

influence. The proboscis, and the four hands are broken. Its

kanthahsra is noteworthy. He wears n%ga-ya jGopavita,

7 ardhoruka and Lirastraka .

Another interesting marble image of ~an~:t i.s found at

~akardhar, ten miles of north of Kabul. This is also

standing representation of ~an&a with four arms. The upper

left arm is broken. The two lower arms are seen resting on

the heads of the attendant ganas who are looking up at - / -

Ganesa with devotion. He wears nags-yajnopavita and

ardhoruka. This image resembles the early-Gupta sculptures

belonging to 4th century A.D. It is interesting that the

8 Hindus cf Kabul still worship this image .

2. Nepal:- It is very difficult to explain the exact date of

the introdueticn of Ganesa into Nepal. According to one

legend ~harumati, a daughter of ~boka, built a temple of - /

Ganesa in Ne~al. This is only the legendary origin and there - /

is no evidence to Ganesa's worship in Nepal at such an early

date. According to Nepalese tradition, a mystic mantra in

praise of ~ a ~ d a , called the ~ a ~ a ~ a t i - h ~ d a ~ a , was disclosed

to ~nanda by Buddha at Rajagrha.

- I

~eramba was the most prominent form of Ganesa in

9 Nepal . Usually he is shown with his viihana lion, has five

heads, ten hands and on his lap is his 'sakti. An image of

/ ~eramba-~anesa was found at Rhatgaon which is dated

1695 A.D. It has a rat, instead of lion, for vahana. There

are some temples of ~ a ? d a in Nepal. Among them, one is near

zimpi-~andu and another, of ~iddi-vinayaka, is at Shankn.

- In the Nepalese harvest festivals ~arvati is

- / represented as a Young girl, accompanied by two boys, Gnnesa

and ~ahkkala. In this connection it may be noted that ~ a ~ i d a

is associated wtth harvest festivals in Western India also

10 particularly in Konkan . - /

3. Tibet:- Ganesa did not gain much popularity in Tibet

because ~ a h a ~ a n a Buddhism was widespread in that land. - I

However, a few inages of Ganesa have been found in western

Tibet. It is interesting to note that Ganesla's image was

placed above the main entrance into the Tibetan temples I

including the Buddhist. The Siva temple at Virmand has over

its door an image of Gan&a. In another ~ahzyana Buddhist /

temple at ~ a b o ~anesa is carved on the wooden doors along I

with the divinities of the Buddhist pantheon. A Ganesa

figure is also painted on the wall above the doors of the 11

principal ectranez of a temple at ~hakhang .

4. Khbtan:- ~ a ? ~ $ a was most prominent deity in Khbtan. Stein

in his explorations of a stGpa at Endere found painted

wooden panels and bronze tablets bearing the image of Ga&a

of the some of the representations are of usual Indian forms

whereas some others betray the characteristics peculiar to

chinese Turkistan". For instance in one of the figures

~ a n d a is shown as elephant-headed god seated on a cushion

with soles touching each other1*. Here GaneLa wears single

stringed pearl necklace [ ekavali ] and be jewelled keyuras in

his arms. The ardh%ruka is dark brown in colour and over it

is an apron - like garment of tiger skin. The artributes in

his hands are not very clear.

In the rock-cut temples of Bezaklik, there are several

frescoes in which representations of ~a&a are found. At

Khaklik, about 75 miles from Khotan, two painted

representations of ~a&a have been found. Of these, in one /

painted Ganesa can be clearly seen. Three of his hands are

visible. Each of them holds a bowl of sweets, ahkuka and

radish13. The upper left hand is not clearly shown. The god

is wearing a dhoti-like lower garment [ahtariya] and an -

upper garment [ uttariya] . /

5. Mongolia:- Ganesa reached Mongolia with the introduction

of Buddhism. Buddhism spread in Monsolia through Tibet and

the Tibetan monk Hphags-pa carried ~ahiyana Buddhism into

Mongolia in the 13th century. To the Mongols, ~ahakala was /

only the manifestation of Siva and it was therefore, quite

natural that ~ a n d a should have become popular in Mongolia.

The Nritta forin of the elepahnt-faced god is to be found

among the "five hundred gods of Nar-than". He is shown on

his mount [vahanal rat which holds the jewel c i n t k a n i in

its mouth. Each of four hands hold an axe ~~araLu], radish,

bowl of sweets and a trident [trisula] the last being

14 normally an attribute of Siva . -

6. ~ri1anka:- Among the row of Ganas sculptured on the

I - Kantaka cettinga stiipa near Mihintale in ~rilahka the

elephant headed dwarf [ganal also can be seen. The image has

been taken to represent the proto-~an~$a. The Buddhists

probably, borrowed the idea of the ganas from the epics and

very naturally the elephant-headed gana also came to , b e

represented in Buddhist friezes of the early centuries of

15 the Christian era . - I

Another fine representation of Ganesa is sculptured on

I

a pillar in a Siva temple at Polonnaruva. It is carved in a -

niche crowned by a kirttimukha. The god is seated and has

four hands of which the lower left holds &aka. In another - I

form found at Katoragama, 150 miles from Colombo, Ganesa

occupies an independent position. It is interesting that 16

this god is worshipped even by Christians and Muslims .

7. Burma [Myanmar]:- Buddhism was introduced into Burma in

the later half of the 11th century. However, Hinduism

penetrated into Burma long before Buddhism. This is evident

from Image; of Safva and Vaishnava gods and goddesses found

I in that country- A $ood number of ~anesa images have also

been found in lower Burma.

/

GanGsa being the god who removed obstacles and granted

success, his images were carried by merchants and traders

who went ~ u t of India in order to achieve success in their

pursuit which extended beyond the seas, As Nihar Ranjan

observes. ~ a n d a found popular favour mainly with the

conmlercial section of the population.

There are two interesting images of ~a?~:a in the

Rangoon museum. Both are small in size. Of these one image

shows the god seated ir. ~admzsana and as six armed. The

attributes in his hands are not clearly visible.

- I In one of the temples of Pagan a most remarkable Ganesa

image was found. It is unique and of iconographic interest. I

It depicts ~anesa seated in padmasana. He has four hands of

which upper right holds a parah and the lower right a

rosary, whereas the upper left has a conch and the lower

left. placed in his lap probably has &aka. The most

interesting feature of the sculpture is the figure of croco-

dile on the front of the pedestal carved in low relief.

Similarly, on the right and left of the pedestal are carved

in bas relief a tortoise and fish respectively. These have - / 18 not so far been found associated with Ga?esa any where -

8. Thailand:- Thailand [popularly known as Siam] had

contacts with India from a very early period. The Siamese

art was influenced by ~maravati, Gupta and Pallava arts. It

appears that the southern part of Thailand came first into

contact with India. ~a&a was one of the most popular

deities of this country. Several images cf this god have

been found here.

In the famous ~indu temple at Bangkok, there is an

- interesting bronze statue of ~a*'e:a. He wears nag.

yajiiopavita. He left hand holds a manuscript while in the

right hand in his broken tusk. He is shown with his legs

superposed. This sculpture seems to be the representation of - /

Ganesa as a scribe [lekhaka] for the sage vyasa, who is

traditionally supposed to have dictated the whole of

- ' 19 Mahabharata to Ganesa

9. Cambodia:- Cambodia came into contact with India at an

early period. According to tradition in the early centuries

a brahmin by name Kaundinya went to the coast of ~amb&ia

and established a kingdom there. Cambodia is extremely rich

in artistic remains and there are innumerable images of

Hindu and Buddhist divinities.

I

There are many temples of biva and ~anisa in Cambodia.

An inscription of Angkor ~orei, dated 611 A.D., registers

the grant of slaves to the temple which was dedicated to

several deities cf which one was ~anesa~'.

One temple [loth century] at Prasat 13ak21 was dedicated

to the worship of can;&. G~?G& is depicted in SOW of the

- / scenes in Bung lileglea, loose sculptures of Ganesa are also

found from time to time in ~ambodia. One of the most

- / remarkable images of Ganesa found here is in a private

collection at Speak Thmar Kendal. Here the god is depicted

in sitting posture. He has two hands and wears a tall

conical headgear, n+wya jiiopavita and kGyuras. The tip of

the trunk is broken.

10. Champa- Champa came into contact with India by about the

early centuries of the Christian era itself and the

influence of the ~maravati school is visible on its artistic

creations. As in Cambodia, in Champa too the principal Hindu r

cult was that of Siva. There is epigraphical evidence to

show that temples were erected and dedicated to ~ a n d a . It I

appears that ~anesa was a popular deity during 7th-8th

centuries A.D. In kaiva temple at Mison a most attractive

statue of Ganda was discovered. The god here is in ~thgnaka

posture wearing a d h h [ardhomka] reaching knees. He has

four hands, but two of its back are missing. In the lower

left hand is a bowl of sweets and he is taking them into his - mouth with his trunk. He wears nags-yajzopavita but there is

no crown on his head. The image is dated to about 8th

22 century -

A very interesting representation of ~a&a is found in

the saigon museum. It is unfortunately in a mutilated

condition. Here the god is shown seated and with two hands.

He has three deep set eyes. He also has a small prahhsvalaya

at the back. According to Boisselier this is the only image

of its kind in the whole of South-East-Asia.

11. Java and Bali [Indonesia] :- ~ a v a has been known to

Indians from a very long period. The great epic ~amayana

refers to the islands as ~ava-dvIpa. During the period of

the Guptas [4th and 5th centuries] Hinduism began to spread

in these islands and Saivism became a most predominant

faith. A good number of sculptures of brahmanical gods and

goddesses have been found in Indonesia. In Java, however, no

temple was found dedicated to ~a?&a but his images have 2 3

been found in the temples of kiva . - /

Among the statues of Ganesa in ~ a v a the most primitive

one is discovered in West ~ a v a ~ ~ a n d is now preserved in the

British museum. Some scholars assign this unfinished image

it to a very early date only because it is so primitive.

However, the god is shown seated with two hands without any

attributes and there is no head-gear. The proboscis is

somewhat straight. Another fine representation of ~an~:a is

found on the ~ieng-plateauZ5. It is believed to the most

I ancient representation so far found in ~ava. 1t shows ~an;sa

as sitting- He has four hands of which the proper right is

holding the broken tusk and the left the m;;dakapatra and the

upper twc a paraku and aksharnala. He wears armlets,

bracelets, a necklace and a n~ga-yaj60pav~ta. But there is

no heads-gear .

There is another image of ~a&a which is purely a

~avanese conception. Here the god wears skull ornaments. The

date, in chronogram, is engraved on the pedestal and it

corresponds to 1239 A.D., [early Singhasari period]. The god

has his usual attributes. But interestingly a number of

skulls are seen on the pedestal.

During 8th-9th centuries Saivism was flourishing in

Bali and consequently ~a&a became a popular deity. It is

interesting to note that most of the Balinese sculptures of - /

Ganesa are in standing attitude. Besides, he has usually a I

third eye, a characteristic of Siva. Another remarkable - /

feature of Bali Ganesa is that he can be seen sculptured in

the group of royal pixsonages whose statues were made

posthumously. Probably, they invoked the god to remove 2 6

obstacles in life after death .

12. Bornio:- Hinduism should have penetrated in Borneo 5th

Centcry or even earlier. Accordj.ng to epigraphical evidences

at Kotei certain Hindu rites were performed by Brahmins. A

cave at ~ombeng has several Brahmanical and Buddhist jmages

among which the majority are of kaiva pantheon. Of these a

fine stone statue of ca?da shows him sitting with the usual

attributes in his four hands27. It is a loose sculpture and

appears to have been brought with others from some other

temple. ~ccording to Kotei epigraphs this statue belongs to

the 5th century. This dating, however, is not supported by

stylistic evidence.

1 Another fine example of Ganzsa from Borneo is shows the

deity seated. He has fan-shaped ears and almost straight ,

trunk which appears to be the characteristic of the Ganesa

images of Borneo28. Another important feature is that the

crown looks more like a jatamakuta. The attributes in his

hands are not clear. A very interesting feature of this -

statue is the urns mark. The urna is usually to be seen in

the statue of Buddha in India.

1 3 . China:- Ganesa probably reached China through Central

Asia and Chinese Turkestan. Of , the two early

representations of ~an&a in China one is a fresco in the

rock-cut caves at Tun-huang and the other is a stone image

carved in low relief in the rock-cut temple at Kung-hsien.

The former is depicted along with other Hindu deities such

as the Sun, the Moon and Navagrahas. It can be dated to 6th

century A . D . The stone image at ~ung-hsien can be dated, on

the basis of inscriptional evidence, to 531 A.D. It thus

I becomes the earliest dated image of ~ancsa found in china.

He is shown seated in the true Indian cross legged poz ture.

He has two hands, the right one holding lotus and the left,

the cintimani jewel. The inscription refers t.0 him as the

It30 "spirit king of elephants .

Some more representheions of Ca&a in seated postures

are found in China.

/ 14. Japan:- It appears that ~al!c?sa was unknown in Japan from

9th century A.D onwards. Kolso Daishi, a Buddhist introduced -

Ganesa worship and since then the god became quite prominant - /

and his images in the Ganesa form were made and temples

were dedicated to him. He is shown standing and has two,

four or six arms. In the kaku-Zen-Cho form he was shown with

three heads, each having three eyes and in his four hands he

held a sword, a raddish, a maaka and sceptre. He was

supposed to be seated on a mountain and was referred to as

"king of elepahnts".

- 1 31 In the form Kangi-ten Ganesa was worshipped not

publicly in temples but secretly. It was a secret esoteric

cult, based on the doctrine of yoga.

REFERENCES

Dhavalikar, M.K., "Gan&a Beyond the Indian Trontiers",

in Indias Contribution to World Thought and Culture

Lokesh Chandra, et, al, [eds.], PP. 1-2 .

Ibid., PP. 1-14.

Vanden Rerghe, Barrasiha-ye ~arikhi [Historical studies

of Iran, August-September, 19701. Quoted by Jarnunadas

Akhtar, The problem of Ganapati, P. VI.

Sarma, I .K., " A unTque ~ s h ~ r s h a [coping stone] from

~rnarzvati". J.A.H.R.S. Vol. XXXV-1975-76. P. 283.

Dhavalikar, M.K., n. 1, P. 2.

Epigraphia Indica, XXXV, No. 1, P. 44 ff.

Dhavalikar, M.K., n. 1, P. 2, Fig. 1.

Ibid., P. 3, Fig. 2.

Ibid., P. 4, Fig. 4.

Gupte, B.A., "Harvest festivals in honour of Gauri and

~ a ~ & h " Indian Antiquary, XXXV-1906, PP. 6 0 - 6 4 .

Hanumath Sastri, I., Ganapati, P. 122.

Dhavalikar, M.K., n. 1, P. 5, Fig. 5.

Ibid.. PP. 5-6.

Ibid., P. 6.

Ibid., PP. 6-7.

Ibid., P. 7, Fig. 6.

Nihar-Ranjan RayI Brahmanical Gods in Burma. P. 66.

Dhavalikar, M.K., n. 1, P. 7 .

Tbid., P. R .

Hanumath Sastri, I., n. 11, P. 111.

Dhavalikar, M.K., n. 1, P. 9.

Ibid., PP. 10-11.

Ibid., PP. 11-12.

Alice Getty, ~ a n d a : A Monograph on the Elephant Faced

God. PI. 299.

Dhavalikar, M . K . , n. 1, P. 12.

Ibid., P. 12.

Alice Getty, A., n. 24, P. 64, PI. 32b.

28. Ibid., P1. 32d. -

29. Urna is usually to be seen protruberance between the

eye-brows, an important mark of greatness.

30. Dhavalikar, M.K., n. 1, P. 13, PI- 13.

31. Ibid., P. 14, F i g . 15 .