Date:14/09/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/09/14/stories/2007091459210200.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

The many forms of Ganesh on show

Special Correspondent

S. Shadakshari’s collection has touched 1,600

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

Colourful: The three-day exhibition on the Ramanashree Udaya Education Society premises has on display various forms of the elephant god.

BANGALORE: In the old Mysore area (including Bangalore) on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi, there is this tradition of people going around to take a look at the various Ganesh idols. The more idols they see, the more blessed they count themselves. Usually, 101 is a nice number, but 1,600?

For, that is the number of Ganeshs on display at the three-day exhibition of S. Shadakshari’s collection that opened on Thursday on the Ramanashree Udaya Education Society premises in M.C. Layout, Vijayanagar.

Mr. Shadakshari, secretary of Ramanashree Prathishtana, said though he started the collection only 12 years ago, the elephant god had always fascinated him. He has still preserved the scrapbook where, as a schoolboy, he had neatly stuck pictures of the loveable deity.

Today, his collection is sourced from all over the world. Some of them are original and others copies that have appealed to him. Showing this correspondent one he found in Cambodia in 2002, Mr. Shadakshari said this particular Ganesh has his trunk up in the air, which was an uncommon posture. There are idols inspired by those in the museums of Borneo, Rome, the Kongiten province of Japan, Afghanistan, Nepal and Europe, and some rare ones from all over the country crafted in bronze, gold, silver, ivory and wood having different colours and textures.

Rare

A rare one is from Japan where two Ganapatis are in an embrace. Another from Afghanistan has no hands and its trunk has been severed, a telling depiction of a country devastated by war. And there are the ubiquitous minuscule Ganeshs crafted on grains that have to be viewed through a magnifying glass. The “Dashavatara” series, the musician series, the laptop and mobile Ganesh series are some of the modern takes.

According to Mr. Shadakshari, there is one moulded using the finely ground powder of seashells (conches) which has a religious significance. His collection is growing and now people are tipping him off on new idols and the iconology.

The display is on till September 16, from noon to 8 p.m.