"Miss Trunknose"

[Guest guest]

On one of my first visits to the Hindu Temple in Flushing, Queens, I

asked one of the priests where I should leave my offering of flowers and

a coconut. He gestured towards the central shrine to Ganesha and said,

"Over there, by the Shakti."

 

"Shakti?" I asked. "Ganesha? But isn't Shakti <female>?"

 

The priest shrugged, and smiled. "Ah, well... you know Ganesha!"

 

In South India (and this is a South Indian-style temple) Ganesha is

thought to be a Momma's-boy, refusing to marry because "no wife is as

wonderful as my mother." He's considered a sissy, a girly-boy, a bit

light in the loafers... although no stories exist (that I know of) of

his dallying with any male lovers. He is what in Yiddish is called a

"tum-tum" -- non-sexual, androgynous.

 

His pudgy body is feminine in its curves and softness. Since he has one

broken tusk, some say he's half-female (female Indian elephants have

tusks that don't extend much past their mouths). And while female

Ganeshas are found in art, there are rumors that the Remover of Obstacles

is fond of "dressing up"...

 

There are straight men who admire Ganesha, and they get very bent out of

shape at such notions. For them, I suggest they go to North India,

where Ganesha has several wives, and an active Tantric sex life.

 

But everywhere in India, Ganesha is accepted as an honorary Shakti. He

deputises for his mother, appearing at occasions when she is too busy.

He is always surrounded by the other goddesses -- straight, gay, or

indifferent, he's definitly a "ladies man." He is one of the few male

deities whose usual complexion is red -- the color of Shakti.

 

Now, Shakti means Power, and each of the goddesses manifests a particular

power. Sarasvati is the Power to Create. Kali is the Power to Destroy.

And Ganesha? His is the Power to Begin Anew. <Ganesha sharanam>

(Ganesha be my refuge)

 

-- Len/ Kalipadma

 

 

On Tue, 03 Jun 2003 04:56:26 -0000 "Nora" <ashwini_puralasamy

writes:

> I cannot resist joining this exchanges.

>

> I had a discussion once with a Ganesha Bhakta, and he told me that

> to

> him Ganesha is a complete Deity. Complete in a sense that Ganesha

> have the remarkable Shakti & Shiva attributes.

>

> Once we have a lady who came to our group saying that she

> "sees"

> Ganesha as a Female. Apparently she went to another group and some

> members there "ridicule" her. Then few weeks later when I

> went back

> for the Annual Shri Mariamman Adipuram, somebody handed me a copy of

>

> magazine from India and in the front copy is a picture of

> Vigneshwari. So which means this lady is not imagining but her

> perception of Ganesha as a Female is real.

>

> If anybody interested to read about Vigneshwari :

>

> http://www.shaktisadhana.org/Vigneshwari.html

>

 

 

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