Ganesa is one of the most important deities of Hinduism and there is no dearth of books on this god. Most of these books deal with the origin, antiquity, history and mythology of the elephant-headed god and some with his images in Indian and elsewhere. From Japan to Central Asia where Ganesa images exist, Indonesia is the country next only to India where have been found the largest number of the ancient icons of the god and where the worship of this deity is still a living tradition. The present work, representing the Ph.D. thesis of the author, is the first serious attempt to present a comparative study of the images of the god in India and Indonesia during the early historic and medieval periods. It carriers further the work of late Shri C. Sivaramamurti to study the geographical and chronological factors in the iconography of Ganesa in the two countries and traces the origin and development of certain iconographic traits of Ganesa images from the country of their inspiration and the different regions thereof. It covers Ganesa images in different media–stone terracotta and metal and also brings to light many interesting images of the deity from Indonesia for the first time.
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