Tryakshara Ganesha

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Item Code: EX99
Specifications:
Water Color on Old Urdu Paper, Manual Calligraphy on both sides
Weight: 31.80 kg
This brilliantly coloured and precisely carved wood statue represents Lord Ganapati in a four-armed manifestation identified in the Ganesh-related classical tradition as Tryakshara Ganapati : the Lord of three alphabets – AUM. The sacred syllable AUM is sometimes inscribed on the trunk of the Tryakshara Ganapati and sometimes it manifests in contours of his body and subordinate imagery. However, only the inclusion of the sacred syllable AUM, as inscribed or as manifest, in the iconography of the elephant god is not conclusive. The four-armed Tryakshara Ganapati is perceived as a form of Ganesh having a figure glowing with gold-like lustre and with rare benignity reflecting on his face. Tryakshara Ganapati carries as his attributes elephant goad, noose, broken tusk and a golden ripe mango and has a straightened sturdy untwisted trunk carrying in it a ‘ghat’ – pot, coconut or an identical auspicious and mystic attribute. He is invariably represented as seated on a lotus and one of the legs suspending down to the earth. Tryakshara Ganapati has large floppy ears reaching down his shoulders with ear-lobes lying on them and is conceived with a gold-like lustrous complexion radiating even in darkness.

Though in his every manifest form Ganapati is the Lord of auspices, Tryakshara Ganapati, perhaps with the sacred syllable AUM : the Supreme Being’s graphic and phonetic manifestation, added to it, is more auspicious than any of his other forms and stands for greater good. With his auspiciousness Tryakshara Ganapati pervades the entire cosmos. Tryakshara Ganapati is a simpler form than many but its symbolic thrust is far wider. In this form one of the legs of Lord Ganesh is set on the earth while the other, stretches from left to right; and, his torso has an upward rise. Thus with his form extending into all four directions the auspicious Lord casts his spell from the earth to the sky and all over the earth from horizon to horizon. Tradition acclaims that the presence of Ganesh in his Tryakshara Ganapati manifestation bestows with endless blessings showering from all sides.

In this image all aspects of Tryakshara Ganapati have been further widened. Lord Ganesh is seated on a lotus which rises on a large stem from below symbolic of ocean. Thus, auspices that Lord Ganesh bestows reach farther below the earth. His figure is four-armed carrying in them the same attributes as texts prescribe : elephant goad, noose, broken tusk and mango glistening like gold, the trunk is sturdy and straight except its tip turning to right, not usual left, for giving it AUM like curve and to hold an auspicious attribute looking like a coconut or a mango, and the ears, with earlobes lying folded on his shoulders, are as large as texts prescribed. Besides the form of trunk, the sacred syllable AUM manifests in his body’s other parts as also in the curves of foliage comprising Prabhavali.

Elevated over a beautifully conceived and carved lotus the figure of Tryakshara Ganapati reveals rare beauty of form. The figure of Lord Ganesh, from head to feet, has been elaborately ornamented. He is wearing an elegant crown inlaid with multi-coloured precious stones. Of all ornaments that he is wearing the double laced belly band and large size band with colourfully inlaid ‘phalis’ lying down to his thighs are rare and excellent. The sole costume that he is putting on is his ‘antariya’ with pleats defined by beaded laces. The awe-inspiring but auspicious Kirtti-mukha, besides multiplying auspiciousness, yields from its mouth-opening some beautifully colourful flowers not usually seen in sculptures of this sort. Interestingly, close to the feet of Lord Ganesh on the pedestal’s top a mouse, too tiny to discern, has been carved flanking the deity image on either side. Strange to his iconography, just below these mice, the figures of two massive ‘ganas’ with robust moustaches and sturdy body-structures attend on him. Their figures have been carved in the bottom compartment of the Prabhavali.

This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr. Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of literature and is the author of numerous books on Indian art and culture. Dr. Daljeet is the curator of the Miniature Painting Gallery, National Museum, New Delhi. They have both collaborated together on a number of books.

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