Buddhist Deity: Ganapati

Note: I came across several books while referring for details on Buddhism and Ganesha’s role.  Many of them narrated Ganesha in a negative light.  Many historians were under the impression that Ganesha was a god of removal of obstacles  until medieval ages later became the god of obstacles.  I have added only those details what I could gather from Buddha devotees and did not include these aspect of Ganesha since I had no source of clarification and also did not want to hurt any sentiments.  Incase you have more details regarding Ganesha in Buddhism please share

Details about the Idol

Hand carved seated “Parents Puja” Ganesh on lotus pose bronze statue.  Intricately hand crafted and hand finish from wax mole in Thailand.  This pose illustrates Ganesh holding Shiva and Parvati in each hand.  Measures approx.  10.5″ high, 9″ wide, and 6″ deep

Ganesha or Ganapati is perhaps the most popular deity in Hindu tradition.  But what is more interesting is that this God was worshipped in many countries outside India. This is testified to by a large number of Ganesha images of stone and metal, inscriptions and literary works in many languages.  Let us have a peek into Buddhism.  “Ganapati” is the Buddhist name for the elephant head-god Ganesha. The way we know Ganesha he is not known in outside world  its always been the tantric guise that’s been most influential, this side of Ganesha is not much important for India though.  Buddhists felt that the elephants was sacred and also a marked the elephant as a “Herald” to the coming of Buddha.

Picture details :

The four-armed Ganesh sitting on top of a lotus platform in front of stupa. His primary hands exhibit Namskar mudra gesture of worship. 2nd right hand offering flowers at stupa and 2nd left hand holding axe and offering lotus flower by his trunk. He is jeweled with crown. He also wears a scarf, arranged in lappets on his shoulders; and a beautifully patterned skirt (dhoti), secured below his ponderous belly, covers his thighs.

As I started reading Ganesha’s role in Buddhism, what I could collect from their scripture is that Ganesha is usually depicted as a demon whose malevolent nature is to be propitiated either to avoid harm or to direct the harm towards an enemy.  Sometimes Ganesha is seen as 2 different dieties, one is negative and is called Vinayaka and the later is positive which is the tantic form and helps people out of their miseries.  Furthermore some scholars have argued that it is not 2 different deities rather than 2 aspects of the same lord.  Ganapati has an ambivalent status in Buddhist tantra. The Hindu form is often seen as an opponent to Buddhist practice.  Sometimes he is depicted as a negative force.

Please note that Buddhist Ganapati is not the same as our Ganesha (son of Parvati, and Shiva).  He is  totally different.  He is a Tantric Buddhist Ganapati named as Avalokiteshvara who after killing the Hindu Ganesha then cut off the elephant head and placed it on top of his own, thus taking on the appearance of the defeated Ganesha!  Ganapati has an ambivalent status in Buddhist tantra. The Hindu form is often seen as an opponent to Buddhist practice.  Some particular distinction are, the Buddhist Ganapati uses the seed syllable GAH, not the Hindu seed syllable for Ganapati, which is GAM.

Avalokiteshvara

Ganesha and Tibet

Ganesha Scriptures were translated into Tibetan and introduced in Tibet by the monks by 10 and 11 c.  Though based on Indian Scriptures Ganesha acquires a very different form outside India. For Tibetan and Tantric Buddhists,  Ganapati is the Sanskrit name commonly used and the word found in Tibetan literature too. The two words Ganesha and Ganapati have the same basic meaning in English: lord of Ganas.

In one Tibetan form he is shown being trodden under foot by Mahākala, who is a Dharmapala (“protector of dharma”) in Vajrayana Buddhism (Tibetan Buddhism and Japanese Shingon Buddhism).  Mahakala (Shadbhuja) in the six-armed form is also an emanation of Avalokiteshvara. In this form he stands atop an elephant headed supine figure. The name of the figure varies from ritual text to ritual text but is commonly referred to as Vinayaka.  As the Buddhist god Vināyaka, he is often shown dancing, a form called Nritya Ganapati

Buddhist Ganesha, Dancing God of Wealth

Ganesha was worshipped in Khotan, Endere, Kashgar and Lobnor. Four-handed Ganesha images of these countries have been found. They are shown with modaka (sweet), axe, goad and radish. He was famous for killing demons and was thus a deity of protection. In many temples he was shown as dvarapalaka also. He had both male and female forms (Ganesha and Ganeshani). Not only he was shown with a radish, but his mouse also had a radish in its mouth. Such Ganesha images have been found at Mongolia.

Ganesha in Nepal

Ganesha with vighantaka.

Vighantaka (Ganesha) is found in Nepal and Western Tibet. Vighnantaka presides over the northern direction, and is one of the most popular wrathful deities in the Nepalist pantheon. Vighnantaka is the guardian god of the gates in the Mandala. He is terrible in appearance. He is invoked as the destroyer of all obstacles

Ganesha cult was very popular in Nepal from eighth century AD. Heramba Ganapati is quite popular in Nepal. Some of them have lion as vahana instead of a mouse. Many aspects of Ganapati such as Surya, Rakta, Chandra, Siddhi, Ashoka were popular in Nepal. The Buddhists also worshipped Ganesha in the form of a protective deity. In Nepal even today images of Parvati and Ganesha are taken in procession during the harvest festival.

Picture Details

Carved by hand  in Nepal of re-claimed wood. They range from 6’ to 12’ [Ganesh is the largest] Buddha & Mahakala both have their ‘3rd’ eye open  Mahakala–A protective Lora who brings wealth in all things from material wealth to spiritual knowledge.  Lord Ganesh represents the Supreme Being that removes problems and ensures success in all endeavors. A wide mouth  symbolize wisdom, understanding & discriminating intellect. Large ears signify the great importance of listening to others. Lord Buddha. The Enlightened one.  The Blessed One. The Worthy One. The Compassionate One.

Ganesha in Japan

By about 9th century AD, worship of Ganesha was in vogue in Japan. It is said that a Buddhist monk Kobo Daishi introduced Ganesha worship in Japan. He became a Buddhist deity as Vajradhatu Ganesha. One of the peculiarities is that he held a radish in one of his hands. He had three faces and three eyes. Slowly he became a popular deity in Kangiten school of Buddhism, which was esoteric in nature. Another unique feature was that he was shown in male as well as female forms. Thus he became a tantric deity in Japan.   In esoteric Buddhism, Ganesh in Japan is pictured as a Twin-God – two figures joined to one, often with sexual connotation. These statues are not seen publicly. In Japan, there are more than 250 temples dedicated to Lord Ganesh and He has names such as Kanki-Ten, Kangi-Ten, Shooten, Vinayaaka, or Daishoo Kangiten. In Kamakura (a city in Japan), there is a temple (Hookaij-Ji) with allegedly the oldest statue of Ganesh in Japan; it is locked and supposed to have been preserved safe and sound there from the year 1333. The Twin God is nanten – male, nyoten – female Ganesha. The two-elephant symbolization also represents His/Her ego.   You can read more on the temples in my previous posts on this blog.

Buddhist Thangka Paintings

Wrathful Vajra Ganesha

The difference between Buddhism and Hinduism is that Buddhists do not consider Gods so important as Hindus do; for Buddhists the relevant is only the path (to liberation or to nirvana) the direction of which described Buddha.