Ganesha - Kerala Mural Archive

Detail Photos

Deity: Ganapathi Location: Peruvanam Mahadeva Temple Theme: Non-narrative Visual Feature: Background pattern Visual Feature: Decorative Arch Visual Feature: Facial expression detail Visual Feature: Hand gesture (mudra)Visual Feature: Ornamentation

The image shows a golden-skinned Ganapathi with an elephant head and human body. He wears a green dhoti (lower garment) and is seen seated upon an ornately decorated pedestal. There is a decorative arch that circles his head to waist like a halo. Ganapati has three eyes and four arms, His upper left arm holds an axe or goad, while his upper right hand holds a rope. His lower left hand holds his broken tusk while his lower right hand holds the modakam sweet. His trunk is curled around a pot. He wears an ornate crown with a crescent moon perched upon it. He has a lot of ornaments including anklets, bangles, armbands, waistbands and necklaces. In the backdrop, mashipoov motif is drawn.

Iconography

Primary Deity/Figure: Ganesha
Iconographic Form: Ganesha
Iconographic Attributes: Golden-skinned; three-eyed; elephant head four arms; multiple jwellery; crown with a crescent moon on his head; green lower garment; sits on a decorated pedastal; has a decorative arch surrounding him; upper right hand holds a rope; upper left hand holds an axe or goad; lower left hand holds a broken tusk; lower right hand holds modakam; trunk holds a pot; mashipoov motif in the background.
Rasa: Shanta

Spatial & Architectural

Zone within Temple: Sanctum
Position in Pradakshina Sequence: 11
Adjacent Panels: Golden Dwarapalakan, Poothana moksham

Narrative

Textual Source: Non-narrative
Mythological Tale: Ganapathi is considered the son of Shiva and Parvathy. He is worshipped as the remover of obstacles and invoked whenever one undertakes a new task. In one story, he acts as the scribe to sage Vyasa who dictated the Mahabharata to Ganapti. While writing it down feverently, he ran out of ink in his quill and broke off his trunk, dipped it in ink and continued writing the epic. He did this so that the flow of narration is not broken. In some local tales Ganapathi was endlessly refrained from marrying by asking him to write “your wedding is tomorrow”. He was made to read that and since ‘tommorrow” never comes, his marriage never happens. Locally, any function that gets endlessly postponed gets referred to as “Ganapathi kalyanam pole”(like Ganapathi’s marriage). In some tales however, he has two wives Siddhi and Buddhi.
Episode: Non-narrative

Condition & Documentation

Condition: Fair
Deterioration Type: Pigment loss
Restoration Status: Unrestored
Documentation Type: DSLR full panel
Permission Basis: Combined permission
Date of Documentation: 03/08/2024
Artist: Unknown
Identifier: PVM_P012
Rights / Notes: These images may not be reproduced, redistributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior permission.