DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.75620#0074
38 INDIA, NEPAL, CHINESE TURKESTAN, TIBET:
under the lotus throne of Parpasavari.1 In this latter case he is prostrate, holding both
the sword and shield, and is evidently to be conceived as vanquished by the goddess.
As the Buddhist god, Vinayaka, he was represented in a dancing attitude and is
rarely met with except in paintings. This form is called Nrtta-Ganapati and was
not only popular in north India but was adopted in Nepal and found its way
into Tibet.
In India, the Nrtta-Ganapati if painted is to be conceived as yellow in colour. He
is figured with the right leg bent with the foot on the lotus throne; while the left,
somewhat more bent, holds the foot in the air in a dancing attitude. The Hindu
form has usually four arms but may have as many as eight, carrying the usual
symbols—tusk, bowl of cakes, lasso, elephant goad, &c.—but having one arm free
to follow the movement of the dance.
In Nepal, on the contrary, the Nrtta-Ganapati is to be conceived as red of hue.2
He does not stand directly on the lotus throne but on his vdhana, the rat, green in
colour and holding in its mouth a cintdru^ The right leg is represented as in the
Indian form, while the left, on the contrary, is bent almost double, the foot touching
the serpent girdle. He has a third eye and wears a crown ornamented with cin-
tamanis. His usual form has twelve arms and carries Tantric symbols as well as the
symbols that are held by the Hindu form, with the two following exceptions. The
Nepalese form seldom carries the tusk but in its place is usually figured a radish,
possibly, as suggested above, through a misinterpretation of the Hindu symbol.
The second exception is the modaka, which, as we have also said above, is replaced
by a cintamani in Nepal ; and instead of wearing a garland of skulls, in this Tantric
form like the dharmapdlas he has a garland of cintamanis falling to the knees.
The Nrtta-Ganapati is represented in a Nepalese painting surrounded by four
Vinayakas,3 making an assembly of five deities, which fact seems to indicate a
Buddhist rather than a Brahman group for two reasons: first, because five was a
favourite number with the Mahayanists for grouping their gods ; secondly, because
each deity is of a different colour which was invariably the case in a group of five
deities of Mahayana Buddhism. There is a Buddhist temple in Nepal dedicated to
the Five Ganapatis, where possibly the fifth and central figure is Surya-Vinayaka.
If, however, the miniature referred to above is Brahmanic, the central figure may be
Ganapati-Vinayaka, surrounded by four manifestations of himself.
It is not known at what date the worship of Ganesa was first introduced into
Nepal, but as referred to above, there is a legend to the effect that the daughter of
the Buddhist king Asoka founded a temple in Nepal which was dedicated to him.4
Near Zimpi-Taudu there is an ancient Nepalese temple dedicated to Ganesa5 in
which there are stelas with inscriptions dating from the eighth to the tenth centuries ;
but the actual date of the foundation of the temple is unfortunately unknown. It
is safe to say, nevertheless, that already by the tenth century the popularity of
Ganesa was gaining ground in Nepal as in India ; and that Vinayaka, 'Remover of
1 I. of B. and B.S., Pl. XXIII (a) and (6). Siddhi-Vinayaka, A6okaVinayaka.
2 v. PI. 20 (a).. 4 S.I.I., Sastri, p. 168.
3 Called: Rakta-Vinayaka, Candra-Vinayaka, 5 Le Nepal, Sylvain Levi, vol. II, p. 345.
under the lotus throne of Parpasavari.1 In this latter case he is prostrate, holding both
the sword and shield, and is evidently to be conceived as vanquished by the goddess.
As the Buddhist god, Vinayaka, he was represented in a dancing attitude and is
rarely met with except in paintings. This form is called Nrtta-Ganapati and was
not only popular in north India but was adopted in Nepal and found its way
into Tibet.
In India, the Nrtta-Ganapati if painted is to be conceived as yellow in colour. He
is figured with the right leg bent with the foot on the lotus throne; while the left,
somewhat more bent, holds the foot in the air in a dancing attitude. The Hindu
form has usually four arms but may have as many as eight, carrying the usual
symbols—tusk, bowl of cakes, lasso, elephant goad, &c.—but having one arm free
to follow the movement of the dance.
In Nepal, on the contrary, the Nrtta-Ganapati is to be conceived as red of hue.2
He does not stand directly on the lotus throne but on his vdhana, the rat, green in
colour and holding in its mouth a cintdru^ The right leg is represented as in the
Indian form, while the left, on the contrary, is bent almost double, the foot touching
the serpent girdle. He has a third eye and wears a crown ornamented with cin-
tamanis. His usual form has twelve arms and carries Tantric symbols as well as the
symbols that are held by the Hindu form, with the two following exceptions. The
Nepalese form seldom carries the tusk but in its place is usually figured a radish,
possibly, as suggested above, through a misinterpretation of the Hindu symbol.
The second exception is the modaka, which, as we have also said above, is replaced
by a cintamani in Nepal ; and instead of wearing a garland of skulls, in this Tantric
form like the dharmapdlas he has a garland of cintamanis falling to the knees.
The Nrtta-Ganapati is represented in a Nepalese painting surrounded by four
Vinayakas,3 making an assembly of five deities, which fact seems to indicate a
Buddhist rather than a Brahman group for two reasons: first, because five was a
favourite number with the Mahayanists for grouping their gods ; secondly, because
each deity is of a different colour which was invariably the case in a group of five
deities of Mahayana Buddhism. There is a Buddhist temple in Nepal dedicated to
the Five Ganapatis, where possibly the fifth and central figure is Surya-Vinayaka.
If, however, the miniature referred to above is Brahmanic, the central figure may be
Ganapati-Vinayaka, surrounded by four manifestations of himself.
It is not known at what date the worship of Ganesa was first introduced into
Nepal, but as referred to above, there is a legend to the effect that the daughter of
the Buddhist king Asoka founded a temple in Nepal which was dedicated to him.4
Near Zimpi-Taudu there is an ancient Nepalese temple dedicated to Ganesa5 in
which there are stelas with inscriptions dating from the eighth to the tenth centuries ;
but the actual date of the foundation of the temple is unfortunately unknown. It
is safe to say, nevertheless, that already by the tenth century the popularity of
Ganesa was gaining ground in Nepal as in India ; and that Vinayaka, 'Remover of
1 I. of B. and B.S., Pl. XXIII (a) and (6). Siddhi-Vinayaka, A6okaVinayaka.
2 v. PI. 20 (a).. 4 S.I.I., Sastri, p. 168.
3 Called: Rakta-Vinayaka, Candra-Vinayaka, 5 Le Nepal, Sylvain Levi, vol. II, p. 345.