Who am I

[Tim Simmons]

This is my picture of Ganesha according to my book. He is not shown with a rat or a butter ball, some of his normal attributes, It cannot be him? according to some arguments. When invaded or conquered, signs of the old order or your true allegiance have to be disguised. Like the supporters of the Jacobite rebelion leader Charles Stuart in 18th century Britian, they found many artistic devises and motifs to put on many objects which would show there allegiance to those in the know.This could well have been the case with krises and slowly becoming a standard art form. Just a thought. Tim

[Rick]

Ganesha is often depicted holding his trunk , and he is a pretty stout looking fellow .

[tom hyle]

It's not a tongue; tongues are usually flatter and shorter, and they certainly do not have a nose hole in their end. It's not a very naturalistic trunk, and could be something else pehaps, but also, the tusks are visible beside the trunk where it emerges from the birdish mouth. Tim's picture is exhibitting the same feature; the trunk is coming out between the lips of a mouth, which of course is not accurately elephantine. The head/mouth on Tim's picture looks mammalian, while the other seems avian? I can't tell if there is a similar sexual gesture in the picture Tim posted. It is as if an elephant were either wearing a mask with the trunk emerging from the mask's mouth, or as if an elephant were emerging from or disappearing into these mouths.

[spiral]

Well I try to research a lot of the Hindu Gods as they regularily appear on Nepalese Kothimora kukri scabbards, etc. Which is more my field.

But To me it looks like a beaked Garuda , eating a snake.{Naga..}


which rathers matches these words from a Hindu prophet.....

Lord Vishnu sent a message to Lord Shiva. He sent the message through Garuda, the eagle which is Vishnu's vehicle. Garuda came to Shiva, flapping its wings. When the snake, which was adorning Shiva, caught a little feel of the wind which was being produced by the flapping of Garuda's wings, it started hissing. Although an eagle is the deadly enemy of snakes and a snake would normally slink away when an eagle comes near, now, this snake began hissing at Garuda. It had the courage to do this because of the great strength it got by virtue of the position it occupied around the neck of the Lord. When this snake fearlessly continued hissing, Garuda said, "O snake, you are there around the neck of Lord Shiva; therefore I must excuse you. But just come aside a little, come away from there for a moment." The instant the snake leaves its position, it becomes a meal for the eagle. As long as it remains in its position it gains great strength because of its nearness to divinity.
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So thats what I think! {+no proof just opinion }
Garuda eating a Naga!

Spiral

[Rick]

Originally Posted by spiral

Well I try to research a lot of the Hindu Gods as they regularily appear on Nepalese Kothimora kukri scabbards, etc. Which is my feild.

To me it looks like a beaked Garuda , eating a snake.{Naga..}


which rathers matches these words from a Hindu prophet.....

Lord Vishnu sent a message to Lord Shiva. He sent the message through Garuda, the eagle which is Vishnu's vehicle. Garuda came to Shiva, flapping its wings. When the snake, which was adorning Shiva, caught a little feel of the wind which was being produced by the flapping of Garuda's wings, it started hissing. Although an eagle is the deadly enemy of snakes and a snake would normally slink away when an eagle comes near, now, this snake began hissing at Garuda. It had the courage to do this because of the great strength it got by virtue of the position it occupied around the neck of the Lord. When this snake fearlessly continued hissing, Garuda said, "O snake, you are there around the neck of Lord Shiva; therefore I must excuse you. But just come aside a little, come away from there for a moment." The instant the snake leaves its position, it becomes a meal for the eagle. As long as it remains in its position it gains great strength because of its nearness to divinity.
.................................................. .................................................
So thats what I think! {+no proof just opinion }
Garuda eating a Naga!

Spiral

That makes a certain amount of sense Spiral , but from an artistic point of view I would expect to see either a head or a tail in the hand of the deity , and what about those tusk like features in the mouth , they are unlike most Balinese fang representations .

[spiral]

Could that be just artistic licence or interpritation Rick?

I have zero knowledge of Bali, its people or weapons.

Known lots of artists though!

Spiral

[Rick]

Originally Posted by spiral

Could that be just artistic licence or interpritation Rick?

I have zero knowledge of Bali, its people or weapons.

Known lots of artists though!

Spiral

Hi Spiral ,
Oh , you must mean artistes .

This is indeed an interesting interpretation of Ganesh (if it is indeed Ganesh) and I am not certain at all that it is . I just offer similarities to popular Balinese iconography of said deity . In doing a Ganesh search on eBay I found a Bali mask that shared some of the attributes of this piece , some but not all .
I think it's time for Cedric to chime in at this point seeing as it was he who dropped this in our laps .

Cedric ??