The Development of Hindu Iconography c16.48.2

c16.48.2

The figure is two-armed, but the hands being broken, the attributes placed in them cannot be seen.¹ A relief showing Gaṇeśa with his consort seated on his left lap was also found at the same place; it looks like a caricature of the early Umā-Maheśvara reliefs (Getty, *op. cit.*, Pl. 3, Fig. a). Another early Gupta relief depicting a seated Gaṇapati is to be found in the facade of the Chandragupta cave at Udayagiri (Bhilsa, Madhya Bharat). The two-armed god is sitting on a raised seat in the *arddhaparyaṅka* pose, holding a cup containing sweetmeat (*modaka-bhāṇḍa*) in his left hand, to which his trunk (now broken) was applied; the god seems to be ithyphallic (Pl. XV, Fig. 1). In both these hieratic sculptures, the mouse is conspicuous by its absence. Seated images of Gaṇapati of the early and late mediaeval periods have been found all over India, and it is no wonder that Indonesian sculptures very closely following these mediaeval Indian prototypes should also be found. The four-armed seated figure of the god reproduced here hailing from Java very closely follows the Indian tradition. The god is squatting on a double-petalled lotus seat, holding a rosary in his back right hand, the other three hands and the fore-part of the trunk being broken. The figure is carved with a great deal of skill, and the ornaments and the design of the garments, though not lavish, are yet very tastefully displayed (Pl. XV, Fig. 3).