Ganesh in Indonesia

Java

Contacts between India and Indonesia took place since the Râmâyana period; this epic, indeed, mentions the Java island. Shivaism was the main religion. Nowhere else in South-East Asia, Ganesh has been represented with so many new forms than in these islands where He was highly popular. The Djakarta Museum displays a remarkable selection of Ganesh statues. One of them, dating from the 8th century, has been discovered in the Chandi Banon temple, Banon (Magelang, Java central); however, quite nothing remains on the site which is located not far from Borobudur. This is a sitting four-armed Ganesh; he wears a nicely decorated dress and jewels. In his right hands, he holds a broken tusk and a mala, while the lower left hand (the upper one is damaged) holds a bowl of sweet.

One can admire two other specimens in the Kolkota Indian Museum too, and in the Leyden Museum of Ethnology (Netherlands).

Among the most ancient Ganesh known, dating from the 8th and 9th centuries, are the Dieng Plateau statues (likely Sanjaya dynasty). Being alike those from Ellora (Mahârâshtra), these Ganesh hold an empty bowl (and not full of sweet like usually in India) and they display a particular posture (however also known in India) with the sole feet pressed together, resting on the ground in front of the body. The oldest, probably carved in the 6th century, is a sitting four-armed Ganesh. The lower hands hold, on the right side the broken tusk, on the left side a plate of sweet. The upper hands hold an axe and a rosary. Ganesh wears bracelets, a necklace and a holy thread made of a snake. On his head is a crown.

A little later, the Prambanam remnants (17 km from the big city of Yoggyakarta) give a testimony of a period (9th-10th century) greatly influenced by the Gupta and post-Gupta styles, which built a lot of temples. The big Shiva temple of the Lara Jonggrang (856) complex is famous for its impressive Ganesh, similar to those from Dieng. The pedestal of the statues, carved in a volcanic stone, is sometimes adorned with skulls.
In the main shrine, one can find the gigantic four-armed Shiva statue (this is the Mahadeva form of the God). In the Southern shrine, stands Agastya, as the divine Shiva Master and Supreme Guru; in the Western shrine is Ganesh, the Shiva son; lastly, in the Northern shrine abides the statue of Durgâ Maheshasuramardini.

Incidentally, one can frequently see, on the Java from Java (this happens sometimes in Thailand too), series of skulls disposed around the basis of the statue pedestal, or around the neck as a gruesome garland. A good exemple is the Ganesh from Bara (sse below).

In Chandi Sukuh (Central Java), a bas-relief of the 15th century displays three persons : Bhîma as a blacksmith, a dancing tantric Ganesh in the centre, on the right a man hand-operating the bellows of a smithy (Brown, 1992).

Some other locations may be quoted for the Indonesian Ganesh :

  The temple complex of Ratu Boko, a few km only far from the Prambanan temples, houses an unfinished Ganesh of the 9th century

  The Penataran temple (10 km north Blitar, East Java) houses, in its sanctuary, a Ganesh statue. On the lintel of the western gate of the temple, an inscription gives 1197 as the building date

  In the Torongrejo village, Mount Wuki, Malang (East Java), an excavation made for archaeological investigations has found a Ganesh statue from the Singasari Kingdom (13th century)

  On the eastern side of the Sambisari temple (9th century), near Jogyakarta, one can see a Ganesh statue

  The temple complex of Gedongsongo, village Candi, Mount Ungaran, Semarang (Central Java), has nine small shrines; one can see a 8th century relief of Ganesh there

  The Sangiran Museum, at Sragen (Central Java), owns a nice collection of fossils. A Ganesh statue is also on display

  Built in the 8th century, the Candi Selogriyo, 30 km from the Buddhist most famous Borobudur site, is a small hindu temple. It is however interesting because all the original statues are still in places : two temple guards, on both sides of the main doorway, Durga Mahisasuramardini on the left temple side, Ganesha on the back side, and Agastya on the right side. Therefore, the Shiva Lingam in the main shrine is not in place

  The Ujung Kulon National Park is the most ancient national park of the country; it covers 80000 ha on a peninsula, at the SW of the Java island and includes also several islands : Pulau Peucang, Pulau Panaitan and the Krakatoa archipelago. A very antique Ganesh statue (which would be from the 1st century), was discovered on the Pulau Panaitan island, at the top of mount Raksa.

  The Gebang temple (circa 730 - 800), near Jogyakarta, is hindu and buddhist too. In 1936, the local inhabitants discovered a Ganesh statue in the field there; afterwards, the Archaeology Dpt undertook investigations and unearthed the temple

A tall pot-bellied Ganesh has been discovered in Singhasari (east Java), dating from circa 1300. He is now in the Bangkok National Museum (Thailand). He is very striking, surrounded by skulls.

Another javanese innovation in the domain of the Ganesh iconography supports the theory who states the continuity, throughout centuries, of the Ganesh functions as Creator and Destructor of obstacles. The question relates to the addition of a kîrtimukha (face of Glory) or kâlamukha (face of Time). The Ganesh from Bara (east Java, from the Singhasari period), dating from 1239, has such addition behind the head (Brown 1992).

The kâlamukha is placed above the temple thresholds and windows everywhere in Java, in order to keep outside the temples those who are unworthy but let enter those who are pure enough to do. In other words, the kâla is a threshold ward, a creator/destructor of obstacles (to enter or not), just like Ganesh is : placed side by side, mixed, they appear to perfectly fit each other.

Another statue, found in Chandi Singhasari, reproduces this association. Ganesh is sitting on a throne in the maharâjâlilasana posture. Another standing statue has been found in Karang Kates, Java. This two-arm Ganesh is standing in the samabhanga posture on a high pedestal and weara nice head-dress.

Some pictures of the Javanese Ganesh forms have been collected on the Web, since we have not visited this country ourselves; these pictures are presented on this page.

Sumatra

In Palembang, the Sultan Badaruddin II Museum, in a Deutch Mansion erected in 1863, has on display a Ganesh statue 2m high, from the Srivijaya Realm (7-13th century).

Borneo

The most eastern point reached by Ganesh seems to have been the Borneo island, where inscriptions of the 5th century, maybe even more ancient, report hindu rituals achieved by brâhmans .

In the Genung Kombeng cave (8th century), are located buddhist or hindu stone images displaying a big four-armed Shiva, a Durga and a four-armed Ganesh, who holds usual emblems (axe, mâlâ).

Bali

The Bali island in an exception in Indonesia, the biggest Muslim country in the world. Indeed, about 95% of the 3 million Bali inhabitants are hindu. Except India, Bali and Nepal are the only regions in the world where the hindu religion is prominent. As in Java (where it disappeared later) Hinduism had arrived by sea thanks to frequent and strong commercial links with India. Therefore, hinduism has developped itself peacefully in Bali, interacting with the pre-existent animistic cultural context. The result, which has integrated buddhist believes too, is quite singular and does not have any similar equivalent in the world. The gods and benevolent spirits are constantly fighting against demons. Those are evil forces, malevolent spirits. Demons can never been destroyed. At the most, they can be satisfied and temporarily appeased thanks to offerings and sacrifices. The Balinese believes are not only a simple dualism Good versus Bad. For instance, the Barong, a mythical Creature personifying "the Good", is permanently fighting against Rangda, a terrifying witch personifying "the Evil". This legend is always narrated in ritual dances performed during temple festivals (or summarized in short shows for the tourist purpose). Obviously, the Barong always win but everybody is aware that the victory is a provisional one. The objective of the Barong is to attain a balance between Good and Evil, while the Rangda role is to destroy this balance.

The three main hindu gods, i.e. Brahmâ , Vishnu , Shiva , can be found in Bali temples but their iconography is not so developped and there is no main shrine where the mûrti (the god or goddess image) would be worshipped.

There are thousands temples in Bali. Every village has at least three : the Pura (Pura means temple) Puseh dedicated to the village founders, the Pura Desa dedicated to deities who protect the community and the Pura Dalem or temple of Death, obviously dedicated to Shiva.

In all of these temples, one can see a kind of tall stone throne, the padmasana (the meaning of this word is not the same as in India) which has been used lately; it is dedicated to the Supreme Deity. Some say that the Supreme is Sûrya , others say He is Sanghyang Widi. In fact, the latter name, which signifies the Supreme God who can't be known, has been created and introduced in Bali by christian missionaries at the beginning of the 20th century. Indeed, they wanted to translate the Bible to widespread its teachings among those "godless" balinese people. The Balinese adopted the word but finally they continued to be hindu... A new proof that the hindu religion has an illimited power of adaptation. We must indicate that the padmasana remains, most times, empty, with the exception of offerings which are deposited every day on. In a few cases, a small golden statue is fixed on the padmasana. People name it Synthia but, despite my investigations, I could not get any certainty whether Syntia would be a representation of a God who cannot be represented, i.e. Sanghyang Widhi or not.

This very short and incomplete introduction about hinduism in Bali will permit, may-be, to better understand that the place occupied by Ganesh in the religious background is not the same as it is in India.

The balinese people consider Ganesh on two main aspects :

1. Accessorily, acoording to statements made by several people in Bali, Ganesh is the deity who protects education. But we have some doubts and we tend to believe that this function is affected, as it is in India, to the Goddess Sarasvatî who can be seen in many places and temples.

2. Ganesh is a Dvârapâla , a guard at the temple gate, like in Pura Uluwatu, for instance. This guard duty is usually assumed by other grim Creatures, whose aspect is normal considering that their task is to prevent demons to enter into the sacred area. This can be the reason why most balinese Ganesh look rather inimical.

A new fashion has developped rather recently to display a stone Ganesh statue just after the outer entrance of private estates. This Ganesh, we suppose that He is a welcome Ganesh, has often his back against the low wall which usually follows the main gate. According to balinese believes, this wall impedes demons to enter the property. Indeed, it is an obstacle and Demons, everybody knows that, can only keep straight on. So, one can think that the Ganesh presence reinforces the obstacle and Demons cannot go inside.

The Ganesh presence in temples in not really usual. It's rather rare, indeed. Except for the Goa Gajah cave where stays a 11th century Ganesh and carved rocks in Yehpulu, not far from Goa gajah, where there is another Ganesh from the 14th century, one may never be sure that the Ganesh seen here and there are ancient or not.

Some temples are quite recent, like the Sarasvatî temple, in Ubud, which has been built in the years 1950. Other are antique but the hot and wet tropical climate, the volcanic eruptions, the earthquakes have deteriorated them many times since their original construction. Restaurations are often carried out as soon as adequate funds can be raised. New elements are just by side oldest ones. But in a few years, the grey volcanic stones look multisecular thanks to the wet hot atmosphere.

In specialized books are quoted two places where Ganesh would be, but we have not seen them :

In Djembaran (south Bali), Ganesh sitting on a throne, surrounded by flames.

A 8th century Ganesh with legs crossed like in India has been discovered in Davock Tocket

Stone handicraft is very well developed, especially in Batubalan. Weight and size of the objects make them more adapted for the local market. Carvers use preferably basalt, and also a yellowish white softer stone (sandstone ?). Their style is generally classical, with little variations only. One can notice that the javanese style (feet sole joined) has been introduced. On may sometimes observe a Garuda head carved back of the Ganesh head. We have also seen a Ganesh with a sex erected (urdhvareta).

Wood Ganesh carvings, made in villages around Ubud, allow the carvers variations in the forms. Usually, one can see two fashions : 1. Ganesh with very detailed shapes (dress, head dress, ...), made in a white soft wood ("crocodile wood" = Zanthoxylum rhetsa), or in a precious sandal wood, imported from Kalimantan and Sulawesi, or in suar wood (see below), a harder material but not so difficult to carve; 2. Ganesh with more simple and more rounded forms; they use the "suar", or a beautiful rare ebony coming from other islands. Most used is the suar wood, since its hue, once treated with boot-polish or varnish, has a red-brownish color. Many shopkeepers state that suar is mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni), a tree which grows in Java. But, in reality, mahogany is an expensive material and suar (sometimes called rain tree wood) is another tree, Pithecellobium saman.

The Tampaksiring village, not far from Ubud, is specialized in tiny nicely carved objects, made of bovine bones. Some expensive ones, made of mammoth tusk, a rare material legally imported from Russia, can be found.

A fragil handicraft item is egg painting. Of course, the egg is emptied first thanks to a small hole at the bottom.

Ubud and villages around are vey famous for their painting schools and artists. Beside the mythical Barong, a few deities like Sarasvatî, Devi Shri (goddess of rice), are represented in very specific balinese fashions.

Shops abounds with bronze modern statues with a dark green patina. They are produced in Java.

Among the characters of the Wayang Kulit (shadow theatre), from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana epics, one can see the Ganesh puppet. Puppets are made from female buffalow skin.

Pictures of Ganesh forms which we could see in Bali have been gathered in three sets :

  

Ganesh in temples

Welcome modern Ganesh

Handicraft Ganesh

 

 

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