Journeys begin unannounced and so
did mine with Ganesha as my vehicle of expression. Prior to 2001 I did smaller
work and mostly etchings. Was raised with Bapi always teaching us even without
aware that we were constantly learning from him whether he was painting for
leisure or drawing up a plan for a forth coming, set to be put up. Our home was
full of art and its happenings sometimes through practical sessions and a lot
more through discussions. In 1991 that came to end after he passed on. There
was an urgent need to connect to him although he was gone. I remember pulling
down his books and doing a lot of still life paintings at this time. In 1996 I
got married and moved to Singapore. I was told to rest for a year before I
started on work of any sort. I did not mind it and with a non-stop education
for 23 years of my life it felt like a well deserved break. My sweet husband,
one day while returning from work got me the most humble form of art supplies.
I did not have the heart to tell him due to Bapi’s supplies, I had never used
such cheap art material even for my school work. He gradually realised that. In
2001 I was in Oregon, U.S. and suddenly found myself with endless material
which he now bought for me and loads of time too. I started doing canvas after
canvas.
“Why Ganesha?” you may ask.
Simply because, I was enthused enough, to do Ganesha’s. I can’t even remember
why. When I came back to Singapore I started selling a lot of Ganesha’s and
loads of them commissions for various people. It seemed to have a favour with
most Indians. I started looking at various paintings of Hussain’s and started
using his Ganesha’s as inspiration. Gajanan Dandekar, with whom I did do a
workshop when I went to Mumbai, is also a follower of Hussains’ style. While I
explored the feminine form and steadfastly developed my own style I continued
my study of Lambodara.
In Indian modern art one finds
that since the mid 1900’s lot of artists would have indulged at least once in
their career on this God. Is it because it’s so hugely woven in our psyches
through various myths and stories that revolve around this cute child like
figure. Does he seem more approachable because of his divine innocence? I will
just throw light on some of these through my exploration. The sacred texts give
a variety of stories narrating the sequence of Ganesha's birth. The most
popular being the one mentioning that Ganesha was created by Goddess Parvati as
a guardian to her privacy. We all know how she created him from the sandalwood
paste she rubbed of her body. She called him her son and asked him to guard her
door and soon enough Shiva came and was obstructed entry into his own abode by
this boy who claimed to be Uma’s son. We know how the Lord and his rage resulted
in the boy having an elephant head. To bestow respect on her son who now had an
elephant head Shiva named him “Ganesha”, the word Ganesha is made up of gana
(followers of Shiva) and isha (lord), thus Shiva appointed him the lord of his
ganas.
One finds a lot of symbolism
attached to each physical attribute of this Deity. According to the strict
rules of Hindu iconography, Ganesha figures with only two hands are a taboo.
Hence, Ganesha figures are most commonly seen with four hands which signify
their divinity. Some figures may be seen with six, some with eight, some with
ten, some with twelve and some with fourteen hands, each hand carrying a symbol
which differs from the symbols in other hands, there being about fifty seven
symbols in all, according to the findings of research scholars. The principal
scriptures dedicated to Ganesha are the Ganesha
Purana, the Mudgala Purana,
and the Ganapati Atharvashirsa.
An
intriguing aspect of Ganesha's iconography is his broken tusk, leading to the
appellation Ekdanta, Ek meaning one and danta meaning teeth. It carries an
interesting legend behind it: When Parashurama one of Shiva's favorite
disciples, came to visit him, he found Ganesha guarding Shiva's inner apartments.
His father being asleep, Ganesha opposed Parshurama's entry. Parashurama
nevertheless tried to urge his way, and the parties came to blows. Ganesha had
at first the advantage, seizing Parashurama in his trunk, and giving him a
twirl that left him sick and senseless; on recovering, Parashurama threw his
axe at Ganesha, who recognizing it as his father's weapon (Shiva having given
it to Parashurama) received it with all humility upon one of his tusks, which
it immediately severed, and hence Ganesha has but one tusk.
A different legend narrates that
Ganesha was asked to scribe down the epic of Mahabharata, dictated to him by
its author, sage Vyasa. Taking into note the enormity and significance of the
task, Ganesha realized the inadequacy of any ordinary 'pen' to undertake the
task. He thus broke one of his own tusks and made a pen out of it. The lesson
offered here is that no sacrifice is big enough in the pursuit of knowledge.
There seems
to be a pattern in the creation of this Lord and the iconography relating to
him. Note the contradictions in his very being. He is The Lord of ganas but has
a body not all Human. He is the God of knowledge and is even invoked for any
great work of art and yet when it comes to warfare he seems to be victorious
there too. In each of his eight incarnations he was fighting a major demon be
it a demon of anger, jealousy or greed. You would not normally associate the
heroism of warfare to a childlike, food happy diety. Yet his very being is out
of duality. He is born out of Shiva and Shakti. He is born out of the basis of
male and female symbols of Hindisum. Yet at a deeper meaning what is Shiva and
Shakti. Why are they seen in union for the protection of the universe. They are
just the principles addressing the various tatva’s in the human being. To quote,
Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik “When the mind
behaves like Shiva, the hermit, and shuns all things worldly; the world around
behaves like Kali and Gauri, demanding attention. When the mind behaves like
Vishnu, the householder; the world around becomes like Lakshmi, Sita and Radha
and Rukmini and Satyabhama, a source of joy as well as a responsibility to
bear. Unfortunately, most of the time, the mind behaves like Brahma – seeking
control and dominion over the world around. So the Goddess turns into
Shatarupa, the nymph, who cannot be captured. Brahma tries to catch her but
fails. When he stops and sits and pays attention carefully, Shatarupa
transforms into Saraswati, goddess of wisdom, and enables his transformation
into Shiva or Vishnu.”
Yet coming
back to iconography within Ganesha one finds a polarity even in his names. The
names Vighnesha and Vighneshvara
refers to his primary function in Hindu theology as the master of obstacles
(vighna), and he is the remover as well.
His Vahana
although primarily has been the mouse in some avataar’s like Vikata, and the
Vighnaraja he uses a peacock and a snake respectively. The mouse becomes the embodiment of the intellect. It is
able to slip unobserved or without our knowledge into places which we would
have not thought it possible to penetrate. In doing this it is hardly concerned
whether it is seeking virtue or vice. The mouse thus represents our wandering,
wayward mind, lured to undesirable or corrupting grounds. By showing the mouse
paying subservience to Lord Ganesha it is implied that the intellect has been
tamed through Ganesha's power of discrimination. At a recent temple visit I
overheard a Chinese guide explain to the tourists that the mouse was also a
symbol of the “ego”. The Lord Ganesha, the huge elephant tusked God rides on a
small mouse. This is to signify how he keeps his foot over the ego and has
complete control over it. For me this seemed a logical explanation given the
importance associated with this first child of Shiva and Shakti.
According to
Kundalini yoga, Ganesha resides in the first chakra, called Muladhara (mūlādhāra). Mula means "original, main"; adhara
means "base, foundation". The muladhara chakra is the principle on
which the manifestation or outward expansion of primordial Divine Force rests.
This association is also attested to in the Ganapati Atharvashirsa.
Ganesha holds, supports and guides all other chakras, thereby "governing
the forces that propel the wheel of life". Personally I have extended the
travelling of the consciousness from the muladhara to the top chakra,
Sahasrara, in the form of a conch shell headed Lord with the AUM as the ear to
the universal happenings.
Any exploration of Lord Ganesha cannot be concluded without a mention of
the mystical syllable AUM. The sacred AUM is the most powerful Universal symbol
of the divine presence in Hindu thought. It is said to be the first cosmic sound
with which creation came into being. Artists have often taken liberty with this
manifestation to give it their own touch of obeisance. I have done it before and I am about to do it
again in my forth coming exhibition.
Ganesha is
thus the ONLY god to be associated in a "physical" sense with the
primordial sacred sound AUM, a telling reminder of his supreme position in the
Hindu pantheon. The number “3” has also symbolically represents “AUM”. The
symbol of Aum consists of three curves standing for the three states of
consciousness. The sound Aum also has three sounds together. The Mandukya
Upanishad explains this in great detail. Hence “Omkara”, the one whose body
denotes the shape of AUM is the embodiment of the supreme consciousness.
Recently I was curated for “The Global Icon: Ganesha in Fine Art” by
Vidhya Gnana Couresan, for the exhibition. I was returning to this deity after
a good few years of interval. I started rethinking my older work and I have
hence come up with a series of four paintings of which three are bound within
heavy symbolism. Over here you will find the Cubic Vinayaka, where I have taken
the liberties to interpret the Lord and Cubism to my personal understanding. I
have used a lot of Picasso’s palette
for expression as well. Yet my figure remains inspired by Hussain once
again. The moon I choose to give a twist with the yin yang, bringing the female
and male principle, within the canvas as to me Ganesha is the result of this
unison.
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