Reader’s Questions

Yadaiah Vasa, wrote

Lord Ganesha have his nectar on left side in some images and right side in some images. I want to know the significance and difference between the two?

Krishnakant Desai wrote,

I find different types of Ganesha some dont have nectar or Goad or axe.  why? Do they have any meaning?  What is their significance? Can you add some different types of ganesha (apart from regular ones) on your blog.

Tanuj wrote

Nandita, what are the variations of Ganesha idols.  I am not speaking of the modern ones or the ones you find in the Ganapathy mandali ( made of choclate or other items) I want to know the variations in old ancient idols.

Ganesha represents the perfect equilibrium between force and kindness and between power and beauty. He also is associated with the first chakra which represents the instinct of survival and material well-being.  Known for bestowing wisdom and success and as the remover of obstacles.   Some of Ganesha idols are seen holding nectar either in his left hand or right hand.  You can also see Ganesha holding nectar in his trunk.  You will also come across many idols which donot hold nectar at all.

The science behind the idol of Lord Ganesh is given in the ‘Shriganapatyatharvashirsha’ as ‘Ekadantam, Chaturhas­tam ….(एकदन्तं चतुर्हस्तं०)’, meaning one who has only one tooth (ekadanta), four hands (chaturbhuj), adorns a noose (pash) and a goad (ankush), holds a (broken) tooth in one hand and holds the other hand in a posture bestowing blessings (varadmudra), whose flag bears the symbol of a mouse, who has a red complexion, a large abdomen (lambodar), whose ears are like sifting pans, who adorns red clothes, whose body is smeared with a paste of red sandalwood (raktachandan) and who is worshiped with red flowers.

Yadaiah Vasa,
Ganesha’s four arms ( you also come across several 2 hand Ganesha) indicate his power to assist people and equally to destroy evil.  His hands hold many different symbols according to which role he is assuming.  There are about 57 symbols in all, according to the findings of research scholars.    The axe and mace indicate ability to destroy evil demons, the noose his ability to draw close those he loves most dearly and to reach out to encircle and save those who stray. The lotus flowers, books, and swastika painted on his hand are symbols of spiritual knowledge, as is his trunk when held in the shape of the Sanskrit sacred mantra Om. At the other extreme, he is surrounded by symbols of his love of the good things of material life, like the bowl of modak sweets which Ganesha loves to eat, almost always featured in statues and pictures of him.

When worshiping Lord Ganesha, standing before His shrine, devotees may tap the temples gently three times with the knuckles, fists closed and arms crossed in front of the face. Esoterically, this action is said to stimulate certain nerves within the head to catalyze the flow of amrita (nectar) from the sahasrara chakra at the crown of the head, giving abhisheka (ritual bath) to Lord Ganesha, Who sits on the muladhara chakra at the base of the spine. It is a gesture of submission, beseeching forgiveness for errors, remembrance of Ganesha’s presence and supplication of the grace of this loving God.

IT is said that  Amritakumbha or the Pot of Nectar , Ganesha receives a bath whenever a worshiper knocks his temples with arms crossed (Shankhaprahati ) . The amrita flows from the sahasrara down to His seat at the muladhara’s base.

Krishnakant Desai,

Why are their so many variations in the idols? Many a times  you can see different expressions of Love for Ganesha through different types of Ganesha idols.  Different people visualize Ganesha in different forms.  Ganesha has millions of devotees around the world and their are millions of variations of his idol.  I have tried to add different types of Ganesha which is apart from the normal ones.  May be not traditional but they all have significance .

This particular Ganesha from Lotus sculpture does not exhibit any of Ganesha weapons or nectar.  Here Ganesha is dancing while holding a cobra.  Ganesh’s left foot is resting on his vehicle, the rat.  Since rats are seen as being capable of gnawing their way through most things, the rat symbolizes Ganesh’s ability to destroy every obstacle. You can see he is in the Vara Mudra

Ganesha holding a laptop, well few decades before you could find a book and it meant Ganesha imparts knowledge and wisdom so a laptop is a natural, modern extension of Ganesha holding a book.  You can say it is a creative idea by the artist to indicate the rise of technology in the modern world.

Another cute Ganesha on a hammock from Withfriendship.com

Tanuj,

Normally we can come across these variations in the Ganesha idols (Traditional ones or the ancient idols like you put it)

• Mudra : Some idols  are in Padmasana or the lotus posture  or at times even Nritya mudra in the dancing posture

• Mundkata Ganesh : There is a beheaded (Mundkata) Ganesh idol in the Himalaya. The name itself suggests that this idol is without a head. It is said that this is the idol of the son who was created by deity Parvati from the coating of sebum on Her body and who was later be­headed by Lord Shankar.

• Other complexions : Haridraganapati and the Urdhvaganapa­ti have a yellow complexion. The Pingalganapati is tawny (pingat) while the Lakshmiganapati is white in complexion.

• Divine phallus (linga) : Just like the divine phallus of Lord Shiva, that of Ganapati too exists. It is called Ganpatyalinga. It is shaped like a pomegranate, lemon, white gourd or jamun.

• Nude : In the Tantra path of worship, the Ganesh idol is mostly nude. The Energy (Shakti) of Ganesh too accompanies the idol.

• Feminine form : ‘In the Shakta sect, Lord Ganesh is worshipped in the feminine form. Some such examples are given below.

Ganesha Female Form – Ganeshini

A. Ganeshvari : An extremely attractive sculpted idol of Ganeshvari is found in the Suchindram temple in Tamilnadu.

B. Ardha Ganeshvari : It has a highly meaningful form in the Tantra path of spiritual practice.

C. Ganeshani : This female deity is found in an extremely rare form of worship performed by tantriks and mantriks (followers of the Path of Tantra and Mantra).’

Types of Ganapati idols:

There are several types of Ganapati idols like the Saumyaganapati, Balganapati, Herambganapati, Lakshmiganapati, Haridraganapati, Uchchishtaganapati, Suryaganapati, Varadganapati, Dvibhujganapati, Dashbhujganapati, Nartanganapati, Uttishthitganapati, Ganapati with the trunk curved towards the right, etc.

Links to some very different types of  Ganesha Idols

1. Ganesha on a boat and you see him holding a veena
2. Cute Pyjama Ganesha