Of course, Hindus are polytheistic (and have been taken to the woodshed over it by some of their priests!) so it’s very easy to collect their gods - who come in all different disguises; Krishna turns into somebody else on occasion. My little Ganesha is lying in his side in comfortable fashion. I’m still looking for one that has a mouse on his shoulder - I’ve heard about that.
I love the ‘Nataraj’! His foot, I believe, is crushing ignorance. They all represent something positive - no matter how frightening they look.
Shiva, in the form of Nataraja, is a beautiful image of the cyclical nature of the universe. Virtually every last element in this image has a deeper, mythic meaning: the drum of creation; the fire of destruction; the uplifted leg and down pointing hand is a nod to Ganesha, remover of obstacles; the flowing hair of sensuality; the trodden dwarf of ego, apathy, laziness, and ignorance; the snake, an image of destruction and reincarnation; the fearless abhaya mudra; the ring of fire as the universe yet the entire dance is on a lotus, which is the center of our heart. It is by far a most enchanting image.
Since you asked about the mouse and Ganesha...here’s one of my all time favorite stories about Ganesha.
Ganesha is the son for Shiva and Parvati. One day the gods got together to decide who should be the king of the gods. Nobody could come up with a true test until Ganesha says, let’s go ask my dad, Shiva.
Shiva tells all the gods that they have to go around the universe three times. The first one who does the task will be crowned the king of the gods.
All the gods have their own vehicle. Some have eagles, tigers, lions, etc. Ganesh has a mouse. A itty-bitty mouse. And, Ganesha is of course an elephant.
The gods run off to circle the universe. Every god except Ganesha. He looks up at his mom, Parvati, and says, ‘look at my mouse! How can I ride him around the universe three times, and beat every other god? I will fail.’
Parvati says, ‘Ganesha, you are our son. Will we ever give you a task that you won’t succeed at?’
Just then, Ganesha got on the mouse and circled his parents three times. They were his universe. And, that’s why Ganesha wears a crown.
One of my all time favorite stories...
I love the ‘Nataraj’! His foot, I believe, is crushing ignorance. They all represent something positive - no matter how frightening they look.
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I have been finding the same thing. Very uplifting. There is a guy from Pakistan at our state fair who brings a booth filled with the most wonderful Indian/Hindu art with those statues. And the BLING!!! He has a lot of beautiful jewelry too. We found a lovely Ganesha and and Nataraj there. I got a lovely elephant pendant the last time we were there. Over the years, he has become a special state fair friend.
I have been unfamiliar with the mouse on the shoulder one. I need to look out for that one next fall! Do you happen to know its name?