RARE Vtg Large Solid Brass Panchanan Ganesha Statue Hindu Elephant God, 12"

Description

Excellent Vintage Condition! This VERY RARE piece belonged to my great-aunt and she took very good care of it! It's solid brass and VERY heavy, and is attached to a solid wood handmade platform. The solid brass statue needs cleaning, considering its
decades
old!
Here's the significance of this very important statue:
The Sanskrit word Panchanan, meaning five-heads, names Ganesha as Panchanan with five faces. He is also known as Panchmukhi Ganesh. Being Mothers beloved protector of the weak, he is named as Heramba, and Swarna Heramba.
The five heads symbolising the five koshas, presenting the subtle anatomy of yogic experiences are:
1. Annamaya kosha, the outermost kosha, representing the flesh material body and bearing the word Anna meaning food, thus is the sheath of food.
2. Pranamaya kosha,representing the energy body and bearing the word Pran meaning energy, provides the power to produce the subtle vibrations regarding breath, senses and the physical body operations.
3. Manomaya kosha,representing the mental body and bearing the word Mana meaning mind, provides the level of processing emotions and thoughts directly, controlling the operations through the prana of the physical body and its senses.
4. Vijnanamaya kosha,representing the body of the upper consciousness and bearing the word vijnana meaning wisdom, is also the level of consciousness of the external science.
5. Anandamaykosha,the fifth head, facing upwards above the four other heads in the same level, each of them facing towards a cardinal point, representing the body of the cosmic bliss and bearing the word Ananda meaning bliss, is the first and highest koshas surrounding the soul.
Lord Panchanan has a dark, dark green, white or golden yellow complexion; His huge belly symbolises the universe. Some have a belt made of snake, symbolic of the coiled spiritual energy. He wears a sacred thread of Brahmin.
His face has two eyes and often a third eye on his forehead. His ears are large for hearing prayers. His hair dress is Jata-mukuta, Karada-mukuta or Kririta-mukuta. His trunks are curved or coiled.
His front arms embraces his consorts Buddhi, Riddhi, Siddhi, and Shakti but in some idols, the first right hand is the Abhayamudra, the gesture, removing fear and the tenth left hand bears the Varadamudra, the gesture, bestowing boons.
He holds objects like the rosary, signifying sound and hearing; the citron; the club; the elephant goad, to conduct elephants, symbolising his sovereignty over the world; the noose that catches delusions; the battle axe, symbolising destruction of desires; the kadabu cake, symbolising reward; the broken tusk, used as a writing tool, club and plough; the trident of Lord Shiva; the mace; the page of a scripture; the water vessel (kamandalu) bearing sacred water; the water pot (kalash); the lotus flower; the rope symbolising ascend; the horn; etc.
According to the Scanda Puranas, the five-headed Ganeshas mount is an elephant like the Swarna Heramba Ganesha bearing twelve hands and coiled trunks except the left one embracing the consort and the front one holding the kalasha.
Some five-headed Ganesha forms of statues have a mouse as a mount, like this one.  The form has ten hands and is found in temples at Chamarjanagar and Nanjangud in Mysore and in Kashi Vishwanath temple at Varanasi. Lord Heramba is worshipped by the Tantric Sect whose text describes the deity, holding a serpent.
In some images, the God puts His left foot on the mouse and the right foot on the lion, a symbol of Pingala Nadi, representating the Pranamaya yogic practices.
RARE Vtg Large Solid Brass Panchanan Ganesha Statue Hindu Elephant God, 12" Condition is "Used".