Variations on the Elephantine Theme: Jyeṣṭhā-Vināyakī, from Independent Goddess to Gaṇeśa’s Female Form
Capitolo
Data di Pubblicazione:
2023
Citazione:
Variations on the Elephantine Theme: Jyeṣṭhā-Vināyakī, from Independent Goddess to Gaṇeśa’s Female Form / C. Policardi (NUOVA BIBLIOTECA DI STUDI CLASSICI E ORIENTALI). - In: Resisting and Justifying Changes II. Justifying Changes and Legitimizing Innovation in Indian and Ancient Greek Culture. Supplementum to Studi Classici e Orientali / [a cura di] E. Poddighe, T. Pontillo. - [s.l] : Pisa University Press, 2023. - ISBN 978-88-3339-766-5. - pp. 223-264
Abstract:
An Indian female deity characterised by an elephant face is usually identified
with Gaṇeśa’s female form. She is known as Vināyakī, Gaṇeśanī, Gaṇeśvarī,
Gajānanā, and with numerous other epithets. However, very early on, this
little-studied elephant-faced figure appears as an independent, albeit minor,
divinity in her own right. The earliest material attestations of this figure date
from the first centuries BCE-CE and come from Rairh (Rajasthan) and Mathura.
Particularly significant appear to be the connections with the goddess
Jyeṣṭhā or Alakṣmī, who, in some texts, is described as elephant-faced and as
riding a donkey; she traditionally represents misfortune and disease.
The autonomous character of Vināyakī, detached from the orbit of Gaṇeśa,
seems to emerge particularly in the Tantric context. After the 8th century, she
sometimes features as one of the Eight Mothers and is often included in groups
of yoginīs in both Vidyāpīṭha (7th-8th century) and Kaula (post-10th century)
scriptures. The yoginīs’ pantheons of these textual traditions find a degree of
correspondence in different extant pre-11thcentury yoginī temples. Indeed, an
elephant-faced female sculpture is enshrined in the yoginī temples of Hirapur
and Ranipur-Jharial in Odisha and of Bheraghat in Madhya Pradesh. Furthermore,
various sculptural collections of yoginīs also include such a figure.
This contribution, adducing illustrative rather than exhaustive evidence, outlines
the formation and development of this elephant-faced female figure.
Relevant textual passages are analysed, from the earliest attestation in the
Baudhāyanagṛhyaśesạsūtra to the subsequent purāṇic inflections right up
to some significant appearances in Śaiva tantric literature. Hence, figurative
representations of salient interest dating from the 1st century BCE up to the
11th century are listed and briefly described. In the concluding section, I try
to interpret texts and images, reading them in parallel, proposing a tentative
outline of the different phases in the religious-historical evolution of Vināyakī,
and highlighting the dynamics that led to the interpretation of the figure as the
female form of Gaṇeśa.
Tipologia IRIS:
03 - Contributo in volume
Elenco autori:
C. Policardi
Link alla scheda completa:
Link al Full Text:
Titolo del libro:
Resisting and Justifying Changes II. Justifying Changes and Legitimizing Innovation in Indian and Ancient Greek Culture. Supplementum to Studi Classici e Orientali