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2021-03-05T18:44:52Z

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{{short description|Aspect of the Hindu god Ganesha}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Hindu
| image = Heramba Ganapati.JPG
| caption = Heramba Ganapati idol on display at [[The Prince of Wales Museum]], [[Mumbai]]. Idol dates back to 19 century CE; originating from [[Nepal]].
| name = Heramba Ganapati
| Devanagari = हेरम्बा गणपति
| affiliation =
| god_of =
| abode =
| weapon =
| consort =
| mount =
| mantra =
}}

[[File:Nepal, ganesha, xviii sec.JPG|thumb|Heramba with consort, 18th-century Nepal]]
'''Heramba''' ({{lang-sa|हेरम्ब}}, {{IAST|Heraṃba}}), also known as '''Heramba Ganapati''' ({{IAST|Heraṃba-gaṇapati}}), is a five-headed iconographical form of the Hindu god [[Ganesha]] (Ganapati). This form is particularly popular in [[Nepal]].<ref name="Grewal2009"/> This form is important in Tantric worship of Ganesha. He is one of the most popular of the [[thirty-two forms of Ganesha]].

==As an epithet==
The ''[[Mudgala Purana]]'' mentions Heramba Ganapati as one of the thirty-two names of Ganesha. The ''[[Skanda Purana]]'' lists that Heramba Vinayaka as one of the 56 Vinayakas in the vicinity of [[Varanasi]]. Heramba also figures in the lists of Ganesha's names in the ''[[Brahma Vaivarta Purana]]'' (8 names), the ''[[Padma Purana]]'' (12 epithets) and the ''Cintyagama'' (16 Ganapatis).<ref>{{Citation |series=SUNY Series in Religious Studies |last=Grimes |first=John A. |title=Ganapati: Song of the Self |year=1995 |publisher=State University of New York Press |location=Albany |isbn=0-7914-2440-5 |pages = 52–59}}</ref> Heramba is also used as an epithet of Ganesha in the ''[[Ganesha Purana]]''.<ref name="Bailey2008">{{cite book|author=Greg Bailey|title=Gaṇeśapurāṇa: Krīḍākhaṇḍa|year=2008|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-05472-0|page=656}}</ref>

The ''Brahma vaivarta Purana'' explains the meaning of Heramba: the syllable ''he'' denotes helpnessless or weakness, while ''ramba'' is protection of the weak, to save them from harm; thus ''Heramba'' means the "Protector of the weak and good people".<ref name="Rao">{{cite book|last=Rao|first=T.A. Gopinatha|title=Elements of Hindu Iconography |volume=1: Part I|year=1916|publisher=Law Printing House|location=Madras|pages=46–7, 57, 65}}</ref>

==Iconography==
{{multiple image
| align = right
| image1 = Heramba.JPG
| width1 = 200
| alt1 =
| caption1 = Heramba Ganapati, folio from the ''[[Sritattvanidhi]]'' (19th century).
| image2 = Heramba ganapati.jpg
| width2 = 230
| alt2 =
| caption2 = An early 18th century Mewar painting
| footer =
}}
Heramba is described having five elephant heads, four facing the cardinal directions while the fifth at the top looking upwards.<ref name="Rao"/> The colours of Heramba's heads closely relate to [[Sadyojata|five aspects]] of his father [[Shiva]] – [[Ishana]], Tatpurusha, [[Bhairava|Aghora]], [[Vamadeva]] and Sadyojata. The five heads symbolize his power.<ref name="Grewal2009"/> He should be golden yellow in colour.<ref name="Rao"/> Sometimes, he is described to be white in complexion.<ref name="Subramuniyaswami"/>

Heramba rides his ''[[vahana]]'', a mighty lion.<ref name="Rao"/> The lion, represents the deity's royalty and fierce nature.<ref name="Grewal2009"/> The lion is said to be inherited from his mother [[Parvati]], who often rides it.<ref name="Grewal2009">{{cite book|author=Royina Grewal|title=Book of Ganesha|year=2009|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|isbn=978-93-5118-091-3|pages=67–8}}</ref><ref name="Geer2008"/> Though the lion primarily appears as the vahana of this aspect, Dinka, the usual vahana of Ganesha - a rat or a mouse - may also be included in the depiction. In an 11th–13th-century depiction in [[Odisha]], Dinka the rat is depicted on a pedestal besides the seated Heramba. In a depiction in [[Bhaktapur]], Nepal; Heramba stands on two rats. In Nepal, Heramba is generally depicted with a lion as well as Dinka.<ref name="Geer2008">{{cite book|author=Alexandra Anna Enrica van der Geer|title=Animals in Stone: Indian Mammals, Sculptured Through Time|url=https://archive.org/details/animalsstoneindi00geer|url-access=limited|year=2008|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-16819-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/animalsstoneindi00geer/page/n150 78], 81, 335, 345}}</ref>

Heramba has ten arms. As per descriptions in iconographical treatises, he holds a ''[[Pasha (Hinduism)|pasha]]'' (noose), ''danta'' (his broken tusk), ''[[akshamala]]'' (rosary), a ''[[parashu]]'' (battle-axe), a three-headed ''mudgara'' (mallet) and the sweet [[modak]]. Two other arms are held in ''[[Varadamudra]]'' (the boon-giving gesture) and ''[[Abhayamudra]]'' (a gesture denoting protection of the devotee).<ref name="Rao"/> Other descriptions add a garland and a fruit to the attributes in his hand.<ref name="Subramuniyaswami">{{cite book|author=Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami|title=Loving Ganesha|publisher=Himalayan Academy Publications|isbn=978-1-934145-17-3|page=69}}</ref> He may be depicted in sculpture holding an ''[[ankusha]]'' (an elephant goad) in one of his hands.<ref name="Rao"/> Sometimes, a consort may be depicted seated on his lap and one of Heramba's arms cuddles her.<ref name="Grewal2009"/>

==Worship==
Heramba is a protector of the weak. Heramba also has the power to confer fearlessness and bring defeat or destruction to one's enemies.<ref name="T.K.Jagannathan2009">{{cite book|author=T.K.Jagannathan|title=Sri Ganesha|publisher=Pustak Mahal|isbn=978-81-223-1054-2|page=104}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Martin-Dubost |first=Paul |title=Gaņeśa: The Enchanter of the Three Worlds |year=1997 |publisher=Project for Indian Cultural Studies |location=Mumbai |isbn= 81-900184-3-4|page=158}}</ref>

Heramba is popular in the [[Tantra|Tantric]] worship of Ganesha. The Hairamba or Heramba sect is a Tantric sect that worship Ganesha with [[Devi]] or Shakti (the Hindu goddess) as his consort; though usually she is considered his mother and consort of his father Shiva.
<ref name="Dalal2014">{{cite book|author=Roshen Dalal|title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zrk0AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT470|year=2014|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|isbn=978-81-8475-277-9|page=470}}</ref> Like a number of other Hindu deities, Heramba was also associated with the six "fearful [[abhichara]] rites" (use of spells for malevolent purposes) by which an adept is said to gain the power to cause a victim to suffer delusions, be overcome with irresistible attraction or envy, or be enslaved, paralysed or killed.<ref name="Grewal2009"/>

==See also==
*[[Herambasuta]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Ganesha}}

[[Category:Forms of Ganesha]]

Heramba - Revision history

2407:7000:880A:3900:5DBF:BBE9:53CD:2023 at 18:44, 5 March 2021