Ganesha - Reviving the series - 10

The series cannot be completed without mentioning the reach of Lord Ganesha to cultures outside of India. In this last post for this year’s series, I shall try to present some more lesser known facts about the spread of the Lord Ganesha’s influence in Indian and non Indian cultures.

During the early medieval period, both Jains and Buddhists incorporated Ganesh into their pantheon. The Ganesha cult thus travelled with the Mahayana Buddhism to distant lands, including Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, Tibet, China, Mongolia and Japan. Ganesha’s worship spread in all the regions rapidly.

Manjangan (Ganesha) temple in Bali, Indonesia

Ganesha in Ta Prohm, Angkor

For the Jains, Ganesha appears to have taken over certain functions of Kubera. The earliest reference to Ganesha in Jainism is in the Abhidhanacintamani of Hemachandra. It refers to several appelations of Lord Ganesha such as Herama, Ganavgnesa and Vinayaka and visualizes him as elephant headed, pot bellied, bearing an axe and riding a mouse. According to Svetambara Jain work, Acaradinakara or Vardhamansuri (1412 AD), Ganapati is propitiated by gods to get desirable things. It is further mentioned that he is worshipped at the beginning of every auspicious ceremony and new project. Though the Digamabara texts do not mention Ganesha in similar light, his figures are carved in the caves found in Orissa (Udayagiri and Khandagiri) and Mathura.

Ganesha appears in Buddhism as a Buddhist god Vinayaka. His image is found on the Buddhist sculptures of the late Gupta period. As the Buddhist god Vinayaka, he is often shown dancing, a form called Nritya Ganapati – popular in North India and was adopted in Nepal and Tibet. A dancing Ganesha is also evident in the Malay Archipelago temple of Candi Sukuh.

Tibetan representations of Ganesha show ambivalent views of him – he is shown as being trodden under foor by Mahakala( a popular Tibetan deity), and in other depictions he is shown as the Destroyer of Obstacles. Ganapati Maha Rakta is a Tantric Buddhist form of Ganesha and is related to Chakrasamavara cycle of Tantras. This form of Ganapati belongs to a set of three powerful deities known as ‘mar chen kor sum’ or the Three Great Red Deieties included in a larger set called ‘The thirteen Golden Dharmas’ of Sakya. The Tibetan Ganesha appears in the resplendent Thangka paintings alongside with Buddha. It is said in the Tibetan tradition that Buddha taught his disciples the “Ganesha Hridaya Mantra”.

Ganapati, Maha-Rakta

Vignantaka trampling Vinayaka

Dancing Red Ganapati of the Three Red Deities

Early Buddhists through China brought Ganesha worship to Japan. In Japan, the first Ganesha cult is mentioned in 806 AD. The doctrines, rituals and beliefs of the Shingon sect of the Japanese Buddhism have a lot of parallels with the cult of Ganapatya. Known as the Deva of bliss, Ganapati is invoked both for enlightenment and for worldly gains. Kangiten – Vinayaka is offered “bliss - buns” (made from curd, honey and parched flour), radishes, wine and fresh fruits. It is said that in 1832, there were 131 shrines dedicated to the goddess (Benzaiten) and 100 to Lord Ganesha in Tokyo. A 12^th centure temple of Ganesha in Asakusa suburb of Tokyo has been declared a national treasure of Japan.

Ganesha in Japanese temple

While there are more than thirty distinguishable forms of Ganesha in Japan, one of the most typical and famous form is dual – that of two images, known as Embracing Kangi. In this form two tall figures with elephant heads and human bodies, male and female stand in an embrace. Though this form did not develop in India, the Japanese Buddhism talks about at least three different variants of the Kangi figure and explains them.

Kangi Ganesha - Gansha and Ganshani

The Southeast Asia got the Ganesha influence through the maritime business routes. The forms of Ganesha found in the Hindu art of Java, Bali and Borneo also show specific regional influences. In Myanmar, the king of Brahmas called Arsi lost a wager to the king of Devas – Sakra (Thyaga Min), who decapitated Arsi as agreed, but put an elephant head on the Brahma’s body who then became Ganesha. In Thailand, Ganesha is called Phra Phikanet or Phra Phikanesuan and is worshipped as the deity of fortune and success, and a remover of obstacles. His shrines can be faound all over Thailand. In Indonesia, Ganesha is referred to as the god of wisdom. A Ganesha statue from the 1^st centure AD was found on the summit of Mt Raksa in Panaitan Isalnd, west Java. Also he is found in every Siva temple throughout the islands.

Ganesha statue at Sanggar Agung Temple, Surabaya-Indonesia, worshiped by the Chinese, Hindus, Buddhist and even the Kejawen

In 1806, Sir William Jones, drew a close comparison between Dwimukhi Ganesha and Janus – the two headed Roman god. Jones felt the resemblance between the two was so strong that he referred to Ganesha as the “Janus of India”.

Oh lord Ganapati, you are everywhere and in every form possible. I have tried my best to know a part of you. Yet, please do bless me with your divine and grant me the knowledge to understand you better. Even if the fragrance of your flower overpowers, please do shower it on me! - Nitin

Ganesha getting ready to throw his lotus. In the Mudgalapurāṇa, in order to kill the demon of egotism (Mamāsura) who had attacked him, Gaṇeśa Vighnarāja throws his lotus at him. Unable to bear the fragrance of the divine flower, the demon surrenders to Gaṇeśa.