Down To Earth speaks to Lode Rosseels, a Belgian engineer, linguist and Japanologist, on Ganesha's journey from India to Tibet, China and Japan
The Japanese deities Benzaiten (left), Kangiten or Ganesha (centre) and Tamonten (right) in Daishō-in temple (Itsukushima, Hiroshima Prefecture). Photo: FullyFunctnlPhil - Flickr: IMG_0941, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32537567
It is Ganesh Chaturthi 2023. Ganesha, also known as Vinayaka, Ganapati, Vighneshwara and Pillaiyar, is one of the most popular and well-loved gods of the Hindu pantheon. He is worshipped across Hindu denominations and sects as the deity of new beginnings and the remover of obstacles.
But Ganesha and his worship is not restricted to just India or South Asia. The elephant-headed deity travelled across mountain ranges and the Indian and Pacific Oceans in centuries past to become known across Asia.
There is the famous Ganesha sculpture found in Gardez near Kabul in Afghanistan. In Tibet, Ganesha is worshipped as a Buddhist deity in a number of forms including Maharakta Ganapati and Vajra Vinayaka.
From Tibet, Ganesha travelled east to China where he is known as Huanxi Tian. From there, he crossed the Sea of Japan to be incorporated into the pantheon of Japanese Buddhist, Shinto and Shugendo deities. He is known as Binayakaten, Shoten, Ganabachi and Kangiten in Japan.
Ganesha is also worshipped across Indochina and Maritime Southeast Asia.
What enabled the spread of this deity across the continent? Could it have, in part, to do with his elephant head? Down To Earth spoke to Lode Rosseels, a Belgian engineer, linguist and Japanologist, who researched on Ganesha in Tibet, China and Japan as part of his thesis a few years ago. Edited excerpts:
Rajat Ghai (RG): The journey of Ganesha from India to Japan happened as Buddhism travelled from India via Tibet and China to Japan. How different is the elephant in Buddhist iconography from what it is the Hindu one?
Lode Rosseels (LR): Within Hindu and Buddhist iconography, there are a couple of key differences.
Ganesha in his most popular Hindu form is often represented as a good-natured and wise pot-bellied deity with the head of an elephant. Attributes are weapons as well as sweets and fruits, and he can occasionally be seen riding on a rat, his vehicle. His belly and limbs are chubby, his skin colour is a combination of browns, pinks and grays, and he appears thoughtful and relaxed.
The Tibetan Buddhist interpretation emphasised Ganesha’s roles as protector of Dharma, destroyer of evil and remover of obstacles. Hence, relevant characteristics of the elephant were highlighted. Muscular arms and legs, armor, tusks, and weapons were displayed prominently, and similar to other Tibetan deities, a wrathful expression and bold colours (red, black, brown) are not uncommon.
The Japanese Kangiten emphasises the gentle and strong nature of the elephant. The deity is shown as a couple of elephant-headed deities in an amorous embrace, often partially dressed and with silky white or light pink skin. In this version, prosperity is created through passion and goodness, rather than strength and violence. This is the most anthropomorphic representation of Ganesha.
It seems that the Hindu representation of Ganesha (or the elephant-headed aspect) is more grounded in nature — that is to say, less anthropomorphic and less idealistic than the Buddhist versions. Perhaps not coincidentally, the further removed from the origin of Ganesh (and elephants?), the less realistic the representations generally seem to become. It could also be argued that Hinduism retains more influences from nature than Buddhism — which focuses more on the human and spiritual experience — which consequently results in more accurate depictions.
RG: Would it be fair to say that the Chinese version(s) of Ganesha developed in part due to the influence of Taoism? Also, what role did the fabled Silk Route play here?
LR: The Silk Route was a catalyst for the spread of various religious and cultural ideas. Religious systems and practices such as Buddhism, Taoism and Hinduism were able to reach far-away places thanks to the trade routes connecting the East and West. Of course, the Silk Route also enabled the import of new and exotic goods, ideas and animals. As a result, social, political, religious and biological ecosystems started to change. Eventually, boundaries between religions, politics and cultures blurred, and hybrid belief systems came (or, were intentionally brought) into existence.
Many Taoist ideas found their way into political and religious systems, often in a strongly diluted or adapted version. Buddhism contains many Taoist ideas, and as a result, Taoist ideas definitely played a part in the development of the Buddhist Ganesha. Mandalas that house one or more protector deities associated with Ganesh are likely to incorporate Taoist elements such as symbolism, natural elements, symmetry, patterns and color theories, and so on.
RG: How different are the Japanese Ganesha(s) from the Indian one? What does it teach us about reinterpretation and recontextualisation over centuries across Asia, as you have written in the conclusion of your thesis?
LR: Personally, I find that the evolution and reinterpretation of Ganesh across cultures and religions is a great example of how societies share core values, despite superficial differences in interpretation and representation thereof. The elephant-headed god is worshipped for among others (mental or physical) strength, wealth and purity, across socio-cultural contexts — regardless of the attributes he wields, the facial expressions he is depicted with, or the backstories that have been given to him.
In that sense, Ganesh didn’t travel across borders, but each community developed their own version of Ganesh with similarities and differences. Ganesh is not unique in this regard, as various other religious and/or historical figures have been reinterpreted over the ages by different cultures and religions to the extent that their shared origins or common characteristics have gotten lost.
(Perhaps it is precisely the “natural” aspect so prevalent in Ganesh that has allowed his icon to travel so far, gain a foothold in many cultures, and retain his positive nature.)
In the elephant, we find a gentle, awe-inspiring creature that is sure to leave an impression on anyone who has the fortune of encountering one. Instead of focusing on the differences and conflicts between religions and cultures, it is undoubtedly more valuable to focus on shared human experiences and interconnectedness.
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