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also called by a thousand names. Mr. Havell explains Ganapati to be the manas, or worldly wisdom, personified. Ganapati in Hindu mythology is recognized as an unmarried god a brahmachārin. But from the sequel it will appear that some forms of Ganapati have their accompanying goddesses, some times, recognized as Ashta-Siddhis (the eight presiding deities of success or achievement).
Thirty-two forms of Ganapati [1] are mentioned in the Mudgala-Purāna. The Maha-GanapatiSilpasāra also refers to some of these forms. Mahā-Ganapati is stated in the Mudgala-Purāna to be an elephant-faced god, three-eyed, wearing the crescent of the moon as his head-ornament, and red in colour. He is lovingly embraced by his wife who, seated on his lap, holds a lotus in her hand. The following weapons and symbols are mentioned : the bijapūra, club, sugarcane-bow, a brilliant discus, conch, noose, lotus, ear of paddy, the broken tusk and the ruby-pot. This list indicates that the god must have ten hands. [2] The illustration (fig. III) from Madura shows Mahā-Ganapati riding on a rat and having on his lap the seated figure of a goddess. He has ten arms but the weapons held in them are not quite distinct. In the uppermost hand on the right side, however, is seen the discus. In the Visvanātha temple at Tenkāsi (Tinnevelly district) we Lakshmī
Ganapati
Hēramba-
Ganapatihave a similar image seated on a pedestal without the usual rat vehicle, the elephant trunk being turned towards the left side. Here again only the discus and the lotus held in two of the ten arms are clear. Mahā-Ganapati with different weapons and two goddesses receives the name Lakshmī-Ganapati. A fine bronze image of Hēramba-Ganapati, also described in the Mudgala-Purāna comes from Negapatam (fig. 1 1 2). This figure has five elephant faces, the fifth of which, in the illustration, is represented at the top. [3] Of his ten arms the two lowest show the protecting and the boon-giving postures. The others hold the noose, the tusk, the rosary, hook, axe, pestle, pudding and the fruit. He rides on a lion, but no goddess is found, as in the two varieties just mentioned. From Tiruvanaikkaval (i.e., Jambukesvaram)
- ↑ The Sāradātilaka speaks of fifty-one forms of Ganapati.
- ↑ The Silparatna says that he is seated on a lotus-pedestal under a kalpa-tree; that he has ten arms holding the weapons mentioned in the Mudgala-Purāna and that he is surrounded by gods and ganas. No. 84 of the Tanjore inscriptions (S.I.I., Vol. II, p. 407) refers to a comfortably seated Ganapati and mentions a tree as one of his accompaniments. The reference may be to Mahā-Ganapati; but the inscription states that he had only four divine arms.
- ↑ A stone image of this form of Ganapati is found at Tiruvottiyūr near Madras. It is of recent make and has the five heads all arranged in a circle.
