Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Worship of Ganesha in other countries.

TIBET. Tibetans Also worship Ganesha and they call him tsog gi dag po,mar chen, meaning the Great Red lord of hosts or ganas. They regard him as the destroyer of obstacles as we widely believe in India. They prefer Ganesha idols in red colour. Some idols show Ganesha in a dancing pose.
JAPAN. In Japan Ganesha is considered a minor diety, in buddhist pantheon.It is believed Ganesha was known in Japan in 806CE.They think invoking the blessings of Ganesha will lead to enlightenment and wordly gains. They offer him bliss buns made of yoghurt, honey, and pachrd flour. Other offerings include radish and wine. after the prayer they all partake these as prasad, like the Indians.
THAILAND. Here Ganesha is called Phara Phikanet or Phra Phikanesuan. Like in India here he is worshipped for fortune andsuccess, and the remover of obstacles. He is associated with the arts, education and trade.There are shrines for Ganesha accross Thailand and the most revered on is in the Royal Bramin Temple in central Bankok.
WEST JAVA.Here Gnesha is considered as the god of wisdom.Ganesha does not enjoy exclusive statusin indonashia, where the Ramayana and Mahabharath are popular and even Muslims take the name of the characters in the two great epics.Ganesha here is found in Siva temples.
AFGHANISTHAN. Excavations reveal Ganesha was worshipped here also. Before the arrival of Islam, Afghanisthan had close cultural ties with india, and both Hindu and Buddhist dieties were worshipped. Only some idols believed to have sculptedfrom the 5th to the 7th centuries have survived.
CHINA. Research indicate that the chiese also worshipped Ganesha.It is believed Ganesha reached Chine throygh Central China. Two representations found, indicate, that the Ganesha idols/statues reaches China very early. One is a fresco in rock cut caves at Tunhuang and other is a stone image carved in low relief in the rock cut temple at Kung-hsien.
May be this also proves Hindus had traveled far and wide centuries ago.