Ganesha outside India

(With Anant Chaturdashi, we come to the end of the 10-day Ganapati festival. The following is my last article on Ganapati, for the time being, as the subject is so vast that one never knows when once again, I might want to write on Ganesha!)


Ganesha, though is a young god in the Hindu pantheon, his popularity rivals that of Shiva, Vishnu and other gods and goddesses. The Ganapati cult has also its followers in other parts of the world, especially in countries that were influenced by Buddhism. In many of the Asian countries, inscriptions, idols, etc. were found which bear testimony to the worship.

The worship of Ganesh was introduced in Japan around 9th century, by one Koloho Daishi. Ganesh here was worshipped as Kangi-ten of Daisho Kangi-ten (god of joy and harmony). Kangi-ten is not very famous today, but is secretly practiced by the Shingon sect. Representation of Kangi-ten is similar to the elephant-head god as we know, except that there is a difference. Kangi-ten is represented by two elephant-headed characters, one male and the other female, both facing each other and in an intimate embrace. This lends credence to the tantric roots of some branches of Buddhism. However, few representations show Kangi-ten without the female counterpart.

Mongolia too has seen some Ganesha worship. Temples have been found where four-handed Ganesh images have been found. Here too Ganesha has been seen in a similar form as above (Ganesha and Ganeshani) and is known to be fighting demons. In such images, he has always been shown with a radish in one of his hands, and in some, his vahana, the rat too has been depicted with a radish in its mouth.

Ganesha worship was also quite common in Burma, especially by the merchants. In Burmese language he is referred to as Mahapienne (great god), and merchants were known to carry small idols of the god whenever they travelled on work.

Similar worships were known to have taken place in all those areas which came under the spell of Mahayana Buddhism. There were difference myths woven to make stories where the Buddha and Ganesha were supposed to have interacted. The mythological intermingling is quite common as cultures started losing their borders.

Finally, the Roman god Janus. Janus was not an elephant headed god, but was a two headed god, one looking at the past and one towards the future, and thus the month of January is named after him. However, Janus like Ganesha, was worshipped at the beginning of all things, prior to planting and harvest, besides a host of auspicious moments, like birth, marriages, etc. This is the common aspect that Janus shares with Ganesha. Another similarity that can be inferred is that Janus was known to be a good of the gates, and Ganesha was created to guard the gates of Parvati.

Ganapati – Names and Forms

As we know, Ganapati has many names and some of them also imply a form. We already know about the most common ones like Ekdanta, Dhumravarna, Vinayaka, etc. already mentioned in some of the earlier articles.

Let us discuss some lesser known or seen forms of Ganesha –

Bala Ganapati – this is the child form of Ganapati with four arms. In his hands he carries a mango, a branch of a mango-tree, a stem of sugar-cane and a sweet.

Gajanana – is red in colour and is again a four armed form, mounted on a rat. He is supposed to have killed Lobha, who was the demon of greed.

Mayureshwar – this is a six arm form of Ganapati who is white in complexion and is seen riding a peacock. This might have some resemblance to his brother, Skanda or Kartikeya who is normally seen atop a peacock. In this form he battled the demon Sindur.

Mahatkota – is a ten armed form, seated atop a lion and shines like the sun. In this form Ganapati is supposed to have killed two demons, Narantak and Devantak

Vakratunda – is a form where Ganapati has a curved trunk and is generally seen atop a lion. In this form he is supposed to have battled the demon Matsara, who was the symbol of jealousy.

Vighnaraja – is a form where Ganapti is seen lying on the Shesha, the snake of eternity, in a form similar to Vishnu on Sheshanag. In this form, Ganapati is supposed to have defeated Mama, the demon of ego.

Bhalachandra – Here Ganapati is shown as wearing the crescent moon in his head

Vira Ganapati – is Ganapati as the hero, where he is shown as sixteen armed, in which he carries the trident, an arrow, an axe, a sword, the club, a pestle, a spear, a noose, etc. All signs of a warrior god.

Heramba Ganapati – is a five headed form riding a lion. In this form he has ten arms, which have a combination of both arms and other religious symbols like the rosary, etc.

Nritya Ganapati – is the dancing form of Ganapati with four arms.

Urdhva Ganapati – is the rising Ganapati. Here he is shown seated with his Shakti on his left thigh and has eight arms, once of which clasps the goddess. The end of his trunk is rolled around the right breast of the goddess.

Sankatahara Ganapati – is a ganapati seated on a large lotus with his Shakti and has four arms of which one of them holds a bowl of sugared rice (payasapatra)

The above are just a few of many forms of Ganapati, which have been included in different texts like the Ganesha Purana, Mudgala Purana, and other such texts which have recorded different myths eulogising an aspect of the deity and his escapades. Depictions of the form have been open to the artists imagination. Some of them have a strong resemblance to many a Puranic god and each has its own myth.

Ganapati – Ekadanta

Lord Ganesha is also known as Ekdanta (one toothed). There are a number of myths associated with him being one-toothed.

The most common one is do with the epic Mahabharata. Since sage Vyasa was going to recite a poem of epic proportions he asked Lord Ganesha to write it for him. But Ganehsa’s condition was that he would write only if it was recited uninterruptedly. The sage countered with his condition that he would do so if and only if Ganesha understood what he wrote. This way, Vyasa would take a breather by reciting a difficult verse! Anyways the dictation began and while writing, his pen broke. To avoid a delay, Ganesha broke off one of his tusk and continued to write.

Down South the prevalent belief is that ploughing first began with Lord Ganesha ploughing with the help of one of his tusks. One more instance of the Lord’s association with harvest.

In some other reference it is said that Lord Ganesha lost one of his tooth in a battle with Parshurama (Vishnu’s avatar), when Parshurama’s axe hit him on one of his tusks.

Lord Vishwakarma

Lord Vishwakarma is the celestial architect, master craftsman and the Indian counterpart of the Roman god Vulcan (refer to the article on Volcanoes, dt. 31/08/10). Vishwakarma is credited with having made the heavens and the earth and many a divine creation are credited to him.

Vishwakarma is considered to be ‘devshilpi’, the architect of the gods. In Mahabharata, when the Pandavas were given Khandavprastha, Lord Krishna invited Vishwakarma and asked him to build a capital for the Pandavas. As part of the capital which was named, Indraprashta, Vishwakarma also designed a palace for the Pandavas. The palace made by Vishwakarma was a palace of illusions, where the floors looked like still waters and the waters gave an impression of floors. It was a true architectural marvel which went on to provoke more jealousy in the heart of Duryodhana .

Vishwakarma was also responsible for creating and making chariots and weapons for the gods. One of his most important contributions was the vajra – the thunderbolt, created out of sage Dadhichi’s bones (this myth, some other day) for Indra. Another myth says, that when Shiva got married to Parvati, Shiva had requested Vishwakarma to make a palace of gold for them. Ravana (of Ramayana fame) was asked to preside over the rituals of the griha-pravesh, the house-warming ceremony. After the ceremony, when Shiva asked Ravana to quote his dakshina, Ravana asked for the palace itself! Shiva obliged and it is said that it was this palace that was later seen in Lanka, the capital of Ravana’s kingdom.

Lord Vishwakarma is generally worshipped on September 17. All factory workers, architects, artisans, etc. who make use of implements and machines, etc. worship Lord Vishwakarma on this day. The festival is more common in the eastern region of India, especially, West Bengal, Orissa, Tripura and Bihar.

Ganapati – The Chief of the Ganas

The name Ganapati comprises of two words, ‘gana’ and ‘pati’. Amongst the numerous meanings of the word ‘gana’ the one that comes close to is that laid down by Wilson - "a flock, a multitude, a troop, a tribe or class, etc.” Subsequent authors like MacDonnell and others too accepted this definition. The word ‘pati’ means chief. Collectively Ganapati could imply a tribal chief or a chief of a tribe. To take this explanation, the same could go on to imply a tribal deity.

In the Rig Veda, the word ‘gana’ appears many a times in both its original form as well as derivatives. The word ‘gana’ has also been referred to Maruts. Maruts were the sons of the Vedic god Rudra and were the constant companions of the Vedic Indra. Maruts were handsome young spirits and ferocious warriors, who were integral to Indra’s army during his battle with Vrtra the demon. However, the word Ganapati in the Vedic times then refers to the chief of the ‘gana’s, which is Indra himself here. So was Ganapati another name of Indra in Rig Veda?

It is important to mention here that the Vedic Rudra was precursor to the later day Puranic Shiva and it is this relationship that continued to stick to the relationship of Ganesh (aka Gana, Marut) and Shiva.

The above is another example of evolution of gods in mythology. Some gods lose their followers and supporters and new gods take their place or lesser gods get prominence. An analysis will show that the Vedic gods in due course took a back-seat and the Puranic gods came to the fore-front.