Early idols had only 2 hands while they have four now
Latest Ganesh idols with four hands
Jagtial (Karimnagar): Times keep changing and accordingly, gods too. In the old days, images of Lord Ganesha had only two hands but of late, he is equipped with an additional pair of hands, perhaps, to grant more boons to the people and accept more offerings from the devotees. Lord Ganesh, also called Ganapati, is found to be worshipped at various places in the country since 400 A.D. Then the images of Ganapati mostly had a single pair of arms unlike idols of these days which have one more additional pair of hands.
A book titled ‘History and Culture of Karimnagar district’, authored by Dr. Jaisetti Ramanaiah, a retired reader and history scholar, states that sculptures of Ganapati are distinguished by a natural elephant head with a crown and endowed with a single pair of arms. The book, published in 2008, also mentions that Ganapati’s idols with a single pair of hands can be found in 18 temples in Karimnagar district.
Sculptures with a single pair of hands can be found in Bhimeswara, Nageswara and Kedareswara temples in Vemulawada, Hanuman temple in Thotapalli, in Old Siva temple in Choppadandi and at Mallanna temple in Potlapalli in Husnabad mandal.Speaking to this reporter, Mr. Ramanaiah, who has thorough knowledge of at least 30 years of history of Karimnagar district, said the earlier sculptures of Ganapati were carved out by Amaravati sculptors. “The seated dwarfish figure of Ganapati with a single pair of arms found at Amaravati on lime stone is datable to 2nd century B.C,” he said.
Sculptures of Ganapati were found in Karimnagar district right from Badami Chalukyas who ruled the region in 400 A. D.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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