Images of Kangi-ten (Ganapati) in Japan

Ganapati/Kangi-ten or Sho-ten—Ganapati or Ganesa, one of the important deities of the Hindus is regarded as the destroyer of all evils. The elephant-headed pot-bellied god has a very important pantheon

131 His puja preceeds the puja of other gods and goddesses. Ganapati is generally meant the leader of the Ganas¹. He is variously known as Gananatha, Ganesvara, Ganapati, Ganadhapa, Gananayaka. As creator or remover of obstaclos he has also some other different epithets e.g. Vighnesa, Vighnesvara, Vighnaraja, Vighnavinasana². the Ganesa is a curious deity who has been subjected to many myths and legends of the Brahmanical culture. The Siva Purana describes/story of the birth of Ganesa. The text states that Uma created Ganesa with the dirt of her body. The Matsya, the Skanda and the other Puranas describes the story of the birth of the god in a quite different manner. There are different stories related to the epithets of the god. . The title Siddhidata or Dvi-dehaka are attributed to him. He is called as dvi-dehaka because of the two separate entities of his body, one of human and other that of an elephant. It is evident from the Kongo-Kai, the Ryo-Kai and the Taizo-Kai mandara that different Brahmanical deities including Ganesa were brought to Japan from China by Kukai in 806 A.D. But in China this deity lost its popularity 3 and went into oblivion. 1. Development of Hindu Iconography, p. 355. 2. R.G. Bhandarkar in his book Vaisnavism, Saivism and Minor Religious systems refers that this elephant headed and pot bellied god is regularly worshipped as imps and evil sprit. P. 148-50. 3. See the page 72 of this present work.

- 132In Chapter VIII of Darani-shu-kyo Daihachi, Sho-ten is described as a human being with a elephant head. He is holding a radish in his right hand and trident in his [right hand. He is seated with his legs folded. He is decorated with bangles, necklace and precious brocades. (PL.XVIII, Fig 2.). Besson Zakki, written by Shinkaku, also describes the god. The meaning of the title of the text is "The des cription of Divinities". The Daishijuho-kly to describes the god as wearing heavenly garments. His crown is decorated with seven kinds of jewels. The upper right and left hands hold an axe and a stick respectively. Lower left hand holds a piece of ivory which is perhaps his own tooth, while the lower right hand holds a religious object. Fukukenjaku-kyo in its XIII Chapter describes the god as having human body with an elephant head and holding Kongo-sho (vaira) in his upper left hand. His lower left hand is holding an axe, while the upper right and lower right hands are holding noose (string) and trident respectively (Pl.XIX Fig. 1.). The first Many other texts, such as, Kangi Soshin-Ho of FukuSanzo, Binayaka Shijjihon-Hiyo of Ganko, Kong-soshin Nensho Kyuo-Ho of Zen Mui Sanzo, Besson-Zəkki, Kangi Soshin-Keizohon-Ki of Keishitsu etc. describe the god as six-armed. three texts refered the attributes of the six hands as follows : sword, fruit plate, and wheel in the left hands, while bar, string and broken tusk in the right hands, The fourth one

- 133 describes the attributes as mentioned earlier but with little variations. (PL.XX, Fig 1). The fifth text Kangi Soshin-Keizohon-Ki of Keishitsu explains that the god holds vajra in his middle right hand and the string in the lower right hand. The descriptions in the 6th one, Konjiki-Ganabachi-Kyo is quite different from the other texts. Here the god is depicted as golden coloured and standing erect on a golden mountain. The trunk is bend to the right. The two left hands are holding a sword and a blade, and the right hands have a stick or vaira and trident. There is another manifestation of Sho-ten or Kangi-ten, Here the god is represented in his twin aspects - one male and the other female figure embracing each other. Shijuho-kyo-Giki by Fuku Senzo describes the twinimage as having human bodies and elephant heads. They are the two divine sex aspects. Male aspect is the manifestation of Danichi or Mahavairocana and the female aspect is the manifestation of Kannon or Avalokitesvara, the goddess of mercy. Both of them are regarded as Binayakas. Shoten-hi Mandara of Japan portrays the figure of a male and a female Binayaka. They are depicted as having laughing faces, and standing as facing each other touching each others hands and feet. The similarities between the Indian and Japanese texts are to be observed in the aspects, such as, elephant head,

- 134 decoration with heavenly garments and princely ornaments. He should have an axe and a pot of sweetmeat (modaka) in his hands and one of his own teeth (Svadanta) in one of his hands. The Vignudharmottara Ansumadhed agama, the Uttarakamuka-qama, the Suprabhedagama, the Rupamandana describes the god of Brahmanical tradition as four-armed with attributes, such as, his own teeth (svadanta), wood-apple (Kapittha), sweetmeat (Modaka), elephant goad (ankusa), noose (pasa), snake (Naga), rosary (aksasutra) and lotus (Padma) etc. A mouse is mentioned as his mount. His consorts are sometimes mentioned as Bharati (another name of Sarasvati), sri (Laksmi), Vighnesvari, Buddhi and Kubuddhi.' In Brahmanic representations also Ganesa is the destroyer of all imps and evils and king of obestacles, destroyer of obestacles and bestower of success or Siddhidata. He is a popular deity among the businessmen of both the countries, India and Japan. One standing image of Ganapati from Khiching may be the first standing image of the type. Here the four-armed god stands in a slightly bent pose (abhanga) on a beautifully carved lotus, wearing necklace fitted with bells. He is also wearing a few other ornaments, holding a rosary and his own tusk with his right hands and a cup of sweetmeat and an object which appears indistinct. A snake serves as his sacred thread. 1. Development of Hindu Iconography, p. 358.

❤ 135 Other features, such as, the nicely arranged jata with a miniature kirtimukha in the centre at the top of the elephant head, the chain ornaments, the graceful pose etc. are demonstrated in a remarkable manner. The above mentioned sculpture bears similarities with the descriptions of the god as found in the Brahmanical as well as in the Buddhist texts. It is not out of place to mention here that although in Indian Buddhism, Ganesa is held as the creator of obestacles, the Japanese Buddhism, strangely enough, has not viewed Ganesa as the obstacle creator. In Japan, he is highly revered as the giver of wealth. Among the few important images, mention may be made about the embracing Kangi-ten figures preserved in the Japanese temples. (Pl.XIX, Fig. 2.).