Ganesh Icon Article

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http://www.the-week.com/26jan22/currentevents_article10.htm & HPI News (Jan 30, 2006)

 

 

The great charmer

 

He is everybody’s mascot—be it in the commercial, political, cultural or global arena

 

By Vijaya Pushkarna

 

He was always adored, worshipped and held in great adulation. Ganesha, Ganapati,

Vighneshwar, Gajavadana.... The cutest guy in the puja room, till a few years

ago, has shifted base. The son of Shiva and Parvati, the endearing god with the

head of an elephant and a human body is now a pendant on a 16-year-old’s

neck, a clasp on a 17-year-old’s key chain, a handle on a door, a

terracota figure in someone’s garden or the presiding deity in corporate

offices across the country. The concept of the rotund god has undergone a

tectonic shift; the believer’s idol and collector’s curio piece is

also a commercial bestseller, an investment tool, a money-spinner and a

powerful political mascot. If he is a leitmotif nationally, he is also being

hailed globally. The poster boy of traditional and contemporary India is

knocking on world markets and being embraced by shrewd international

businesses.

 

Enter gift outlets like Archies Gallery, and you find colourful Ganeshas of

polystone, glass and polyresins made in China! Amchi Ganapati hijacked by the

Chinese who have sniffed business in the lap of spiritual solace.

 

Silver-lining: Classic Ganesha idols at Frazer & Haws

 

>From the remote areas of Shenzen come Ganesha fountains for your garden and

glowing Ganesha figurines for your bedside table, in thousands of shapes and

sizes. The ‘made in China’ idols are so colourful that they put the

best of Sivakasi calendars to shame. Sneaked into India through the eastern

border, they flood Mumbai’s bazaars—where representatives of

Chinese manufacturers and exporters deal directly with Indian

wholesalers—closer to Ganesh Chaturthi. "Hindu god statues and fountains,

in more than 200 designs, are our main products. The response from our customers

has been very good. Every month we have new items. We have more than 20

sculptors who will deliver products to your satisfaction. Customers’

designs are welcome," say the owners of Willken Arts & Crafts, a manufacture

and export firm based in Quanzhou. Their main markets are Germany, Singapore,

Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Canada, the US and the UK. Never mind that wholesalers

in India once received a consignment of Ganeshas riding, not a mouse, but a

horse!

 

These items target young, urban buyers many of whom are fondly called

‘Gobar Ganesha’ (Ganesha made of cowdung, meaning a couch potato);

girls without brothers have tied rakhis on Ganesha’s wrist; the bachelor

god is their buddy. Says Rajiv Jain, a Chandigarh-based distributor of Archies

Gallery: "About 40 per cent of our gift items are figures of gods; they sell

well. Half of them are Ganeshas; teenagers buy them because there is an

agelessness about them."

 

The Chinese may be playing the mass market, but hogging the higher end are

international jewellers with limited-edition Ganeshas. While the market is the

most dynamic during the festival season in India, limited-edition products are

on display in company showrooms in the west, for art connoisseurs and

non-resident Indians.

 

Customers are fast-learning that Ganeshas are gilt-edged investments. The

150-year-old London-based jeweller Frazer & Haws opened shop in India over a

decade ago to offer the Bond Street range of Sterling silverware and jewellery

to discerning Indian customers. Today, among their hottest selling items are

exquisite Ganeshas, in more than a hundred new designs every year.

 

Soher, the 60-year-old Spanish artifacts company, renowned for its

limited-edition versions, too, began making Ganeshas from Diwali 2003, in

collaboration with Jindal Art Glass. The bronze alloy—Soher’s

formula is a closely guarded secret—Ganeshas come with polishes and

finishes to suit varied tastes. A three-and-a-half-foot Soher Ganesha, mounted

on a round marble base, was priced at Rs 1,51,000 when introduced. Those who

bought it are smiling, not only because of its aesthetics but also because it

is prime investment.

 

For in the resale market, the price of 24-carat gold-plated Ganeshas has

spiralled. Italian company Linea Argentine’s 15-inch-high Ganeshas, made

of sterling silver and studded with Swarovski crystals, are in a limited

edition of 250 pieces. Encouraged by the complete sell-out and the 25 per cent

jump in the resale value within a year, it launched another limited version, of

100 pieces, of two-foot-high Vighneshwaras, made of sterling silver and

hand-enamelled by artisans in Italy. Its initial price tag: Rs 1,85,000. There

seems no dearth of takers for what is sure to become an heirloom.

 

Others who have claimed Ganesha as their own, even if for reasons of workmanship

and profit, are Italian companies Ottaviani, porcelain maker Lladro, Baccarat,

Lalique and French company Daum. Lladro’s 2,000 limited-edition for Rs

64,000 fetched Rs 3 lakh within a year.

 

The market for Ganesha idols has been growing abroad. Local exporters say idols

made of precious metals and crystal find a big market in the US, the UK and

South Africa, where Indian festivals are organised regularly. However, there

are no estimates about the extent of exports.

 

"In a world inundated by the media, stories of the power of Ganesha—the

vighnaharta or vanquisher of obstacles—are absorbed by those who can hear

and see, if not read," says Kamal Tewari, chairman of Chandigarh Sangeet Natak

Akademi, explaining Ganesha’s worldwide appeal. "They would like to

appeal to Vighneshwara, to ward off evil and obstacles from their path. They

too have become believers and devotees of Ganesha, though they may not

consciously pray."

 

Faith in Ganesha, not necessarily Hinduism, has grown in leaps and bounds.

Millions cutting across religion, caste and class have fallen in love with the

god, making him universal. "This one was simply irresistible, so I picked it

up," says Gunita Gill, a doctor who is a connoisseur of arts and crafts.

 

It all starts with buying a single, attractive drawing-room piece. Before you

know it, you’re hooked. "When I began setting up home after marriage, I

picked up a Ganesha, purely as an art piece," says Nalina Vijayraghavan, a

Chennai-based homemaker. "Very soon, I was buying a second and a third piece.

Now we have almost 300 Ganeshas."

 

Twenty-five years ago, Mumbai-based Dattatraya Balakrishna Kanekar brought home

a stone because of its attractive form. A few days later he had a dream where

he was told to worship the stone. Suddenly the stone looked different: he could

see a trunk, a belly and the ceremonial thread. It was the beginning of a

collection that would swell to 2,000 idols and merit mention in the Limca Book

of Records.

 

What has contributed to the Ganesha mania? The development of Indian

handicrafts, largely driven by NGOs working with artisans to restore dying art

forms. Riding the Ganehsa vahana are designers, who have the elephant god

striking poses that would regale audience of any age. Add to this the growing

disposable income of Indians and their desire to do up their homes. All the

same, an uproar over the ‘Ganesha chappal’ fracas of

2003—when American Eagle Outfitters, a clothing retail chain in the US,

brought out flip-flops with Ganesha imprints on the soles—has made

designers wary.

 

Very few are the painters who have not given in to the temptation of painting

him in unique styles on every conceivable medium, be it a coconut or a tiny

supari nut. As painter Anjolie Ela Menon once said: "They have made him the god

of gods."

 

Kochi - based M. Santhosh Kumar (left) has a 1,050 piece collection. An ivory

idol and anther from the Calotropis weed are rare.

 

Gurgaon-based artist Roopchand, says: "In the last 15 years, painting a Ganapati

has become fashion because he sells well. His form, one of the most powerful, is

the main draw. But modern artists go beyond the form and distort it to add their

own stamp," says Roopchand, whose Ganesha painting adorns the headquarters of

the SNS Foundation of the Anand Group in Gurgaon.

 

Having an exclusive, expensive Ganesha prominently displayed at the corporate

headquarters is as important as the mission statement for many. Why, the

highest common denominator of subjects and themes among corporate gifts is

Ganesha.

 

Interior decorators find him a sure path to success. Whether the decor is ethnic

or ultra modern, minimal or surreal, there is room enough for him. He is a

printer’s delight as well. The more suggestive a golden stroke of

Ganesha, the better the cards sell, says printer Rakesh Rana. Many in the

mailing list of the Pakistan embassy will vouch that you don’t have to be

a Hindu or a devotee to receive a card with a Ganesha.

 

Studio and gallery owners use Ganesha to make their name and fame. American

artist and sculptor Heyoka Merrifield, who works out of different locations in

the US, makes Ganeshas of 24k and 18k gold, silver, fossil ivory, carnelian,

ruby, emerald, mother-of-pearl and opal. His three-and-a-half-inch Ganesha,

titled Ganesha Shrine, was part of Beatles guitarist George Harrison’s

collection.

 

Olivia Hussey, the lovely Juliet of the 1968 Romeo and Juliet, too, collects

Ganeshas. "If it’s a figure that reminds me of God, I’ll buy it.

Ganesha is the elephant god from India. He’s the remover of obstacles,"

she tells visitors who view her collection. Obviously, for her the name of the

artist or company making the Ganesha is of little consequence. Ganesha is

himself the brand.

 

with P. Sreevalsan Menon

 

Politics

 

He grants political legitimacy

 

By Dnyanesh Jathar

 

The day Raj Thackeray severed ties with the Shiv Sena and announced his decision

to form a new outfit, he did not forget to visit Siddhivinayak Temple and seek

Lord Ganesha’s blessings.Why just Raj Thackeray? Former Lok Sabha speaker

Manohar Joshi is said to have prayed at Siddhivinayak for a win in the 2004 Lok

Sabha elections. In fact, in 1995, as chief minister, Joshi was among those who

espoused the ‘Ganesha drinking milk’ phenomenon."Almost all

politicians in Maharashtra seek the blessings of Ganesha before they file their

nomination papers," says Jayant Salgaonkar, astrologer and founder of Kal Nirnay

almanac.

 

The walk of faith: Devotees taking Ganesha for immersion in Mumbai

 

While Bal Gangadhar Tilak used the Ganesh festival and Ganesha worship to

mobilise the masses against the British, the modern-day festival in Maharashtra

is a kindergarten for initiation into politics.Congress MP Suresh

Kalmadi’s Pune Festival, that coincides with Ganesh festival, may have

been publicised as a city festival and tourism event but over the years it has

become a stage for the Kalmadi camp to showcase their clout in Pune. "The

political class today lacks legitimacy, their mass appeal is slipping," says Dr

Dinesh Thite, a Pune-based journalist. "They ride piggyback on occasions like

the Ganesh festival to be ‘visible’ among the people. In the last

few years, the anti-Kalmadi camp in Pune Congress has started a parallel Ganesh

festival called Janotsav. They claim that Kalmadi’s festival is for the

elite and theirs is for the masses."

 

When the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance was in power, it extended concessions to

Ganeshostav mandals in Mumbai. These mandals are turning into hubs for

politically ambitious youth to learn people management and fund collection and

to organise events. During the festival, most elected representatives donate to

Ganesha mandals to earn goodwill.With the weakening of the Shiv Sena, the coming

years could witness the Nationalist Congress Party trying to gain control over

these mandals in Mumbai. An indication of this was seen last year when

activists of two reputed mandals clashed in Mumbai before the festival.

 

Police officers say the underworld, too, uses the festival to gain legitimacy. A

Ganesh festival organised in Matunga by a don from south India was a very

popular event until his death. Similarly, Sahyadri Ganesha Mandal, in Tilak

Nagar, has been investigated by the police for its linkage with don Chota

Rajan.

 

Business

 

Grand trunk sales

 

By P. Sreevalsan Menon

 

Associate market talk with Ganesha and this is what you will hear: In 1999, at

the initial offer, the god had a trading price of Rs 3 lakh. In just under

seven years, he has appreciated by more than 110 per cent to trade at Rs 7

lakh.

 

Colour comfort: Mridu Mohta of Daum with crystal Ganeshas

 

The subject here is crystal figurines of Lord Ganesha, which trade like

blue-chips in the market.If Ganesh Chaturthi is an occasion to erect huge

pandals and buy bigger-than-last-year’s moortis, the industry associated

with the festival has grown. According to Pandurang Jadhav, president of

Brihanmumbai Sarvajanak Ganeshotsav Samiti, at least five lakh people are

associated with the industry. The overall revenue: over Rs 100 crore.In Mumbai,

there are around 10,000 Ganesha mandals which take out processions during the

Chaturthi, and the pandal idols, created out of plaster of Paris, are big

revenue earners for artisans around Pen and Lalbaug. Printing wedding cards

with Ganesha in silver, or a costlier metal, is big business at Mumbai’s

Jhaveri Bazaar where as many as 16,000 varieties of Ganesha wedding cards are

printed.

 

The other major money-spinner is the Indian corporates’ fancy for gifting

Ganesha idols to clients and well-wishers during Diwali, New Year and other

Hindu festivals. This has added another Rs 75 crore to Rs 100 crore to

‘Brand Ganesha’. Sniffing the market for religious figurines,

French company Daum launched its Ganesha collection in coloured crystals in

1999. It had earlier experimented with Tirupati Venkateswara. Both collections

were of 100 pieces each but with a ‘made in France’ tag. The

13-inch Ganesha was sold out for Rs 3 lakh in a few days.Goddess Laxmi followed

but the company is yet to sell the first lot. Next out was a five-inch crystal

Ganesha priced at Rs 21,000. A standing Ganesha of seven inches followed in

four colours at a price range of Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000. Only the two-inch

Ganesha, costing Rs 10,000, remained on the shelves. It was found to be too

small to be gifted.

 

The corporate taste for Ganesha has changed the game, says Mridu Mohta of Daum.

"A gift has to be in line with your status," she says. Today, despite a

buy-back offer from the company, its Ganesha idols are changing hands at higher

prices. Celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan were on the look out for some of these

precious pieces. Naturally, the grey market is quite active for this collection.

Take the Lladro porcelain Ganesha which was priced at Rs 56,000; it now fetches

Rs 3-5 lakh in the grey market. Investors are impressed! The crystal segment of

Ganesha is worth Rs 40 crore while the secondary market for these precious

pieces is around Rs 15 crore.

 

My ganesha

 

Bejan Daruwala, astrologer

 

The eleventh sign or rashi is Aquarius or kumbha. According to Indian and

Gujarati astrology, kumbha rashi vibrates to the letters, S and G. S stands for

Shri and G for Ganesha. This sign is recognised as the sign of wish fulfilment.

 

We are in the age of Aquarius, which means computers, connectivity, collectivity

and communication. In the long run it means consciousness. Ganesha has become

the leader of the Aquarian age. So, he is not only popular, intelligent and

wise, but the universal consciousness. This is how I define Ganesha.

 

This is only one side of Ganesha. The other side is summed up by the German word

Weltschmerz, which means world sorrow. World sorrow can be cured by Ganesha.

Others are most welcome to believe in Allah, Christ or Zoroaster, because the

energy is the same. Tolerance, as my professor taught me, is not the key to

culture, but to happiness.Another aspect to Ganesha is that he is fat, like

rotund human beings. We feel comfortable with him. So we want to tell him all

our secrets. He has wide ears and he listens to our innermost joys and sorrows.

Because his stomach is huge, we know he will keep our secrets there.

 

Ganesha teaches us, especially children, the meaning of life and death. He comes

home as a friend. We feed and clothe him. So children feel God is with us. When

we immerse him in the sea, children know he will come back next year; he is not

dead. That is our belief in the cycle of birth and death. So children

unconsciously conquer the fear of death.As told to Vijaya Pushkarna

 

Priya Dutt, Congress MP

 

Ganesha is the Lord who puts things right for me. He gives me strength. My

father was a firm believer of Ganesha and throughout the ups and downs of his

life, he visited the Siddhivinayak Temple to seek his blessings.

 

Ganesha brings people together. I have visited huts and chawls in my

constituency and seen intense devotion for the Lord.

 

Thousands of devotees from all across Mumbai walk barefoot for miles on Monday

night to Siddhivinayak Temple to take part in the morning aarti.

 

 

 

Renuka Narayanan, editor of religion and culture, Hindustan Times

 

One doodad that survives from childhood is my little wooden Ganesha, made of

rosewood from Tamil Nadu. It belonged to my mother, whom I lost in an air crash

more than 30 years ago.

 

This Ganesha has stayed with me through many upheavals. I needed to see it to

stay connected with my life. But, the funniest part is, I don’t seem to

need that Ganesha now. He’s wrapped up in a silk square somewhere in my

cupboard and I haven’t taken him out since I moved into my apartment a

year ago. I think Ganesha has moved into my heart. Does this sound dreadfully

woolly? But that’s how it seems to me: we begin with attachment to things

and over time, all bonds seem to loosen. I find I’m full of amiability to

the world and I pine for none.

 

 

 

Sunita Budhiraja, Corp VP, Media & Commercials, UB Group

 

Istarted collecting Ganeshas about 15 years ago. The first one, made of

rosewood, was from the Cottage Emporium, Delhi. I saw him sitting on the shelf

and I thought to myself, ‘This is what I want to buy’. From then

on it has been a collection from across the country, in all colours, materials,

forms and sizes. I have Ganeshas from 8-cm height to almost 4ft priced from Rs 5

to Rs 17,000. I have a Karimnagar silver filigree Ganesha costing almost Rs

15,000 and a diamond pendant costing Rs 30,000. I once saw a fabulous crystal

piece costing more than Rs 1 lakh. My heart is set on buying that piece.

Someday I will.

 

Ganesha gives me strength, peace of mind and my loneliness goes away when I

think of him. I don’t have to look for space for him; he finds a niche

for himself. I never celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi, for Ganesha is not a one-day

guest at my house. He lives with me through the year. He is part of my house,

my being and my lifestyle.As told to Lalita Iyer

 

GUEST Column

 

Powerful yet gentle

 

By Dr Alka Pande

 

Ganesha, the lord of wisdom, intellect, prudence, fortune and the remover of

obstacles, is the first idol to be placed in a new home.

 

Often seen as the embodiment of the cosmos, Ganesha is also known as Aumkara as

his body is shaped in the form of the auspicious Aum. His elephantine head

symbolises the intelligence and beatitude of the elephant, powerful yet gentle.

His mooshika symbolises the humility that he espouses in the company of smaller

creatures. In a world full of struggle, obstacles and oppositions, Ganesha

comes forth as the Vighna Vinayaka.

 

Ganesha reigns supreme. He is the first among all gods because, for him, his

parents were the centre of his world. No auspicious occasion or ceremony begins

without invocation to Lord Ganapati.

 

Rarely is a Ganesha image found in isolation. It is said that Ganesha always

travels with his own army; in a household if there is one image of the deity,

many will follow. Ganesha Vandana, an invocation to the deity, heralds the

beginning of any performance by an Indian artist.

 

His significance in popular culture arose in the mid 15th century. He is the

Siddhidata, or the bestower of accomplishments, and is propitiated first before

other gods. Ganesha’s popularity extends from India to other parts of the

world, especially Nepal, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Tibet,

Myanmar, China, Japan, Afghanistan, and parts of central Asia.

 

Be it spirituality, the literary genre or popular culture, Ganesha supremacy is

widely visible. The Ganesa Pancharatnam of Adi Sankaracharya of the first

millennium, in Sanskrit, salutes Ganesha. The Tamil works of Tirumoolar and

Avvaiyaar also have hymns saluting Ganesha. Sanskrit texts like the Ganesha

Astava, Ganesh Sahasranama and Vatapi Ganapatim Bhaje salute Ganesha in all

forms in temples and shrines.

 

India’s tribal arts and crafts also bear his mark. From sculptures to

stained glass, from Dhokra craft to south Indian wood craft, his popularity is

manifold.

 

There is the Ganesha sculpture at Kurudumale temple, a riding Ganapati in Kavi

Wall Mural, wooden idols of Ganesha worshipped by tribals of Madhya Pradesh,

sandalwood Ganesha figures crafted by traditional artisans from Karnataka and

Tamil Nadu or Orissa’s soft stone and hard stone Ganeshas crafted by

local artisans around Puri temple.

 

Artists and sculptors have interpreted the image from puranic tales to the 1,001

names of the god. He has even invaded the realm of fashion and style. From the

glass sculptures of contemporary Indian painter Anjolie Ela Menon, the

curvilinear representations of the painter Manjit Bawa to textile motifs and

jewellery pendants.

 

He is the one god who is enjoying an unprecedented international flavour, having

caught the fascination of the western world.

 

The writer is curator, art consultant and adviser and a Ganesha expert.

 

 

 

Song and dance about him

 

By S. Janaki

 

Ganapatyam, the worship of Ganapati, is one of the six sects of religious

worship in Hinduism. The Shodasa Ganapati—the 16 forms of

Ganesha—with different attributes are well known. According to Indian

iconography, the Nritta Ganapati is yellow in colour and is seen dancing with

abandon and excitement under the Kalpataru (wish-fulfilling tree), holding the

sweet cake modaka in his trunk. This lovable god is depicted as standing on one

leg with the other lifted in a dancing pose.

 

Lucky step: In a dance pose for the mass market

 

There is hardly any music or dance performance without an invocation to Ganesha.

Nataraja is the god of dance and Krishna has always been the favourite of

dancers, but Ganesha does not lag behind. He has found his way into the

repertoire of classical dance and contemporary dance theatre as well.Of late,

he has moved into multimedia productions, too. Krishnakumari Narendran staged a

dance-drama, Sri Mahaganapati, with 52 students in Mumbai and Chennai last

year.In the traditional art of Bhagavata Mela and Terukoothu, a dancer dons the

role of Vinayaka to invoke and ensure the success of the play. In Terukoothu,

they have a deft way of twirling a towel to denote Ganesha’s trunk. Even

masks have been adopted in modern dance theatre productions to depict this

lovable god.

 

Slokas on Ganesha are part of the Indian classical dance repertoire. There are

numerous stories about Ganesha in our puranas which serve as a fount of

inspiration to composers and dancers. In Bharatanatyam, there are invocatory

items like the Ganapati Kavuthuvam, songs like Sri Vighnarajam Bhaje,

Pranamamyaham Gaurisutam, the Tulsidas bhajan Gaayiye Ganapati, Saint

Tyagaraja’s Sri Ganapatini and compositions like the Ganesa sabdam

(composed by V.P. Dhananjayan), T.V. Gopalakrishnan’s varnam, songs like

Ananda nartana Ganapati, Karikalabhamukham and Omkaara vadive.

 

The Vatapi Ganapatim Bhaje, a beautiful composition by Muthuswami Dikshitar, in

its delightful and rhythmic melody, captures the character of Ganesha as a

jovial, dancing and playful child. As a dancing god, he indicates dynamic

harmonious activity geared towards progress.