It is difficult to speak of Ganesa in Tibet, China, Japan, and Southeast Asia without referring to the essays in this book. There has been very little written on the Asian Ganesa, and Getty’s book Ganesha: A Monograph on the Elephant-Faced God published over 50 years ago, has remained the major reference for the extra-Indian Ganesa. Ganesa haw in Southeast Asia, unlike elsewhere in Asia, significant Hindu presence. His earliest images, and inscriptions date to approximately the sixth or seventh century, and there is evidence in Cambodia that from this time he has his own temples and perhaps was worshipped again as early as the seventh century, as the focus of a cult and as an Istadevata (primary god). In outlining Ganesa’s character and roles, the author has dealt with the god in art, texts, myths, religion, and ritual -min other words, Ganesa has seen from a cultural viewpoint that it intrinsically multidisciplinary.
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