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The Story of Shiva and the Goddess Ganga

Shiva bronze statue — Bronze statue of Lord Shiva bringing the Goddess Ganga down to the earth in his matted hair

Most of the images and sculpture of Lord Shiva depict the River Ganga flowing from his matted hair. As with all symbols within Hindu iconography there is an interesting tale behind Shiva and the Hindu goddess Ganga. According to Hindu mythology, there was a powerful king in India named Sagar. He decided to conduct Ashwamedha Yagya, a horse sacrifice, to declare his supremacy over the gods. The king of Heaven, Indra grew jealous of King Sagar and decided to steal the ritual horse. Indra successfully abducted the horse and tied him in the ashram of Sage Kapil, who was silently meditating for many years. King Sagar ordered his 60,000 sons to search and find his sacrificial horse. After a long search they found the horse tied at the ashram and began assaulting the great sage thinking he was the culprit who stole the horse. The sage awoke from his trance and in his anger started to destroy all the sons of king Sagar who were accosting him. Anshuman, the grandson of King Sagar, pleaded for forgiveness. The sage told him that he could save his life by bringing the sacred river Ganga down from the heavens to purify the souls of him and his ancestors and help them to attain nirvana.

King Dilip, son of Anshuman pleaded with Lord Brahma to help them bring the Ganga to earth. He failed to appease Brahma so he passed the task to his son, Bhagiratha. Bhagiratha was able to please Brahma, who ordered Ganga to descent to Earth. The furious Ganga felt this as an insult and decided to destroy Earth with her force while descending from heaven. Bhagiratha was warned by Brahma that earth will not be able to hold Ganga while descending from heaven, so he must seek the help of Lord Shiva, the only one who can withstand the power of Ganga. Bhagiratha pleaded with Lord Shiva to help him and Shiva agreed to receive Ganga in his matted locks. Ganga was arrogant and tried to drown Shiva by pushing him to the core of the earth, but the mighty Shiva easily held her in his locks. Shiva’s tie was so strong that Ganga became helpless.

Lord Shiva wanted to teach Ganga a lesson, but instead released her in seven streams as he was satisfied with the prayers of Bhagiratha. The seven streams of Ganga are Bhagirathi, Janhvi, Bhilangana, Mandakini, Rishiganga, Saraswati and Alaknanda. Ganga became calm and followed Bhagiratha, who lead her to his ancestors and with her purity, released their souls.
There are a number of legends associated with Ganga and the different names she has at different places. This is but one.

Ganga is considered to be the most sacred river in India and it originates from the depths of Gangotri glacier. Ganga, otherwise known as Ganges, brings purity to human life. By bathing in her sacred waters one is purified to the core of their being.

Bhagiratha’s great effort in bringing Ganga to earth is known as “Bhagiratha Prayatna”. What would you consider to be the noble quality of Bhagiratha – his strong affection to his ancestors or his determination to meet any challenges to attain the ultimate goal?

The Vedas: Ancient Sanskrit Works of India

Sarswati holding the vedas — Bronze Meditating Saraswati Holding the Hindu Holy book, the Vedas

For those of you unfamiliar, the Vedas are the most sacred books of India, thought to be some of the earliest written works of their kind. Much like the Bible within the Christian religion, the Vedas hold the earliest religious writings of the Hindu religion. They are said to contain spiritual knowledge encompassing all aspects of living; a guide to Hindu thought and teachings. The word ‘Veda” translates to mean wisdom with their contents acting like a river of Hindu thought. Many believe that the writings are the language of the Hindu Gods, translated into words of human understanding. The laws within hold precedence and regulate Hindu society in social, domestic, legal, and religious matters still to this day.

Many wonder of the origin of the Vedas. We can only speculate as to when they first came into existence it was so long ago, however, by some they are thought to be the earliest works of human kind. Many believe that they were not written by humans at all, but by sages receiving sacred knowledge directly from the Gods themselves. Others believe that sages became enlightened with the ideas to write in the books through sacred transference of the Gods. Whether the Gods actually spoke to the sages or not, the knowledge within the Vedas is not only sacred, but still holds its magnificent power to this day.

The Vedas themselves are broken down into four main sections: hymns for singing, rituals for practice, theological thought, and philosophies. Although they are not widely read by followers in present days, the principles within are strictly followed.

In Hindu sculpture the Hindu goddess of Wisdom, Saraswati is often shown holding a copy of vedas. This is an apt book for the goddess of wisdom to carry as it holds the spiritual knowledge encompassing all aspects of living!

Quotes about the Hindu God Ganesh

“O, Elephant Faced One!
You are so near
and we are far from You.
You are in and we are out;
You are at home, while I’m a stranger.
Yet, You have destroyed my egoity.
I shall sing Your Praise forever
and lay my garland of songs at Your feet.”
Saint Nambiandiyadigal

“His four arms stand for His immense power in helping humanity. The noose and goad borne in two of His hands stand for His all-pervasiveness and grace. The broken tusk held in the right hand shows that He is the refuge for all. His huge belly is indicative of His tolerance and also signifies that all things, the entire Universe, are contained in Him. His feet stand for the bestowal of siddhi and buddhi, attainment of desires and knowledge. The modaka (sweet goody) in His hand is symbolic of jnana, conferring bliss. His mount, the shrew, represents the worldly desires which are to be overcome.”
M. Arunachalam, Festivals of Tamil Nadu

“He is worshiped with red flowers.
Unfailing, merciful, the origin of the worlds,
He appears at the beginning of creation, alone, beyond Nature, beyond the Cosmic Person.
He who meditates on His form
becomes great among the yogis”
Ganapati Upanishad

In sculpture the position of Lord Ganesh’s trunk has a symbolic meaning. If the trunk turns to the Ganesh’s left, that is the direction for success in the world. It is a position associated with grihastas, or householders. To his right, the trunk represents moksha, good for renouncing the world. When one chooses a Ganesh sculpture that is proper for their own spiritual path the trunk position is one thing that is good to keep in mind.

“In heaven Lord Ganesh will establish the predominance of gods, on earth that of people, in the nether world that of serpents and anti-gods”

~A Hymn from Sri Bhagavat-Tathva~

“Shiva asked his two sons, Kartikeya and Ganesh to circle the world and return. Kartikeya hurried off on his peacock but Ganesh simply walked around Shiva and Parvati. He explained that for him, his parents constituted the world. Shiva granted him a boon, saying that before undertaking any important task people would pray to Ganesh.”

“If you take home a stone and worship it in full faith, over a course of time you are bound to see the image of Ganesh.”

In the comments section below you are welcome to add any other prayers, quotes or sayings about Lord Ganesh that you may know. We will add them to the page as they are posted.

How to Clean your South Indian Hindu Bronze Statue

“Because of the durability of the metal not much is needed to maintain a bronze sculpture.”

Bronze is an extremely durable metal made from a combination of 5 metals; copper, iron, tin, with minute additions of silver and gold. This combination is called Panchaloha bronze and is the basis for making the sacred Hindu temple statues of India and the world. Copper is the most prevalent metal in the alloy. Copper also gives the metal a softer composition that allows the bronze artisans to carve the details that are prevalent in each piece. All the South Indian bronze statues Lotus Sculpture carries are Panchaloham and thus suited for any home altar or community temple.

Before

Indian Bronze Statue with Verde Gris, green patina

Mahasaraswati South Indian Bronze Statue with verde gris patina

After

Indian Bronze Statues cleaned of Verde Gris with coconut oil

MahasaraswatiSouth Indian Bronze Statue cleaned with coconut oil.

Because of the durability of the metal not much is needed to maintain a bronze sculpture. Many of our customers purchase a bronze statue and perform daily puja and abhisheka consisting of bathing the Hindu deity in ghee, milk, coconut milk or other liquids. In this case nothing is needed to keep the statue clean as it will be bathed daily. If the sculpture is used for “darshan” or simply viewing the sculpture it is best to dust the statue as needed so no dirt collects in the details of the sculpture. For both polished golden bronzes and antique patina bronze statues if you would like the sculpture to shine use a cotton cloth with some coconut oil or other natural oil to wipe down the piece as needed.

Many of our bronze Hindu statues have been placed in outdoor temples. Bronze’s durability makes it perfect for cold winters and hot summers of any climate. We suggest you bathe the sculpture every couple of months so that dirt does not collect on the sculpture and then use a cotton cloth with some natural oil to give the statue a shine. Both indoors and outdoors a bronze statue can be left alone which, overtime, will give the bronze an antique patina.

On some bronze statues you can see small hints of lime green, verde-gris patina. Some people prize this color for its age others want to remove it. If you would like to remove the verde-gris use a tooth brush with some coconut oil or other natural oil and lightly go over the verde-gris. This should remove the unwanted patina from the sculpture.

“If you would like the piece to shine use a cotton cloth with some coconut oil or other natural oil to wipe down the bronze statue.”

If you have any questions concerning your bronze statue please email us at [email protected] or call us at 1(760) 994-4455.