Ganesha & the Ganesa Macula - Washington, DC
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Metro2
N 38° 53.276 W 077° 01.575
18S E 324259 N 4306291
Located in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery.
Waymark Code: WMRYH2
Location: District of Columbia, United States
Date Posted: 08/22/2016
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This 13th century Chloritic schist sculpture is from southern India. The piece depicts the elephants god sitting as a human would on an apparent throne.
Wikipedia (
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"Although he is known by many attributes, Ganesha's elephant head makes him easy to identify. Ganesha is widely revered as the remover of obstacles, the patron of arts and sciences and the deva of intellect and wisdom. As the god of beginnings, he is honoured at the start of rituals and ceremonies. Ganesha is also invoked as patron of letters and learning during writing sessions. Several texts relate mythological anecdotes associated with his birth and exploits and explain his distinct iconography.
Ganesha emerged as a distinct deity in the 4th and 5th centuries CE, during the Gupta period, although he inherited traits from Vedic and pre-Vedic precursors. He was formally included among the five primary deities of Smartism (a Hindu denomination) in the 9th century. A sect of devotees called the Ganapatya arose, who identified Ganesha as the supreme deity. The principal scriptures dedicated to Ganesha are the Ganesha Purana, the Mudgala Purana, and the Ganapati Atharvashirsa. Brahma Purana and Brahmanda Purana are other two Puranic genre encyclopedic texts that deal with Ganesha."
As for the Ganesa Macula, Wikipedia (
visit link) informs us:
"Ganesa Macula is a dark feature on Saturn's moon Titan. It is named after the Hindu god Ganesha.
Ganesa was formerly tentatively identified as a cryovolcanic dome: the result of a mixture of water and ammonia erupting from the center of the dome and spreading out to form a pancake-like deposit. However, topographical data have since shown that it is not dome-shaped, and as a result, there is no longer any evidence that it is of volcanic origin."