'Rainbow' Ganesha – Divinity Colored by a Child’s Imagination

I didn’t expect this to happen on Ganesha Chathurthi this year, but here we are! A milestone in both life and career. A special ‘collaboration’ with my… 4-year-old daughter! With some very interesting (at least for me 😁) revelations.

Ganesha is a deity she connects with effortlessly, like many other kids, because of his friendly, gentle and adorable appearance. But I also think it's because he's relatively easy to draw! Every now and then, I find her quietly doodling Ganesha, one time she drew his belly so large it covered the entire page, leaving the rest of his body hilariously out of proportion. I asked her why she drew him that way, and pat came the reply, “Because he’s Lambooooooodara!” 😂 I burst out laughing and asked why his belly is so big. She confidently said, “Because he ate a whole big watermelon in one go!”

A couple more questions, and I began to realize, she was coming up with her own creative version of Ganesha’s divine form. Her imagination fascinated me. I saw her combining bits of what she had learnt from picture books and songs/bhajans on Ganesha with the influences of Bluey, Disney princesses, superheroes, and other elements from her own world. I felt compelled to draw him too and I let her guide me.  When I asked what color Ganesha should be, she couldn’t pick one, thought for a moment and said, “Rainbow!” And so, we decided to name him ‘Rainbow Ganesha’. 

This experience reminds me yet again of how much I learn from children, and not just my own. Obviously, the children I interact with the most are my own, but whenever I meet other kids, I’m always struck by their curiosity and unique way of seeing the world. In our home, one of the favorite activities with visiting children (friends’ kids, nieces and nephews) is drawing together. I often put their drawings on a wall near my desk as a reminder to create fearlessly. Every idea, every expression they share is nothing short of magical to me.

I think that’s why I’m so drawn to exploring the child form of the divine through art. Human children will eventually grow up. The challenge, amidst worldly distractions is to always keep the child within us alive. But the divine is ageless. When we connect with it in child form, there’s no rush, we can never run out of time. There’s always enough time to play which automatically brings a sense of comfort and ease.

Little Ganesha too, with his playful and endearing form, inspires endless creativity. We’ve all seen him depicted in various ways such as reading a book, playing a musical instrument, hugging a giant modakam, splashing in a pond or dancing to music. Ganesha’s form lends itself beautifully to imagination, transcending all divides, cultures, and traditions.

Through fun and play, we can connect with and learn more about him. This is how, I believe, we can reach him. The rope (pasha) he holds is exactly what we need to ‘climb up to his house,’ so we can play with him. Thank you for the inspiration, Rapunzel. 😁

The golden ‘stick’, which is actually his goad (ankusha) 😬, gently guides us along the spiritual path, reminding us that the journey toward him is through sadhana. And what better sadhana is suitable for children than play? 😃

These two, the pasha and ankusha are the ayudhas of Ganesha, which we most often see as “weapons”, that the deity wields to destroy evil and protect us. But ayudha also simply means tool. And when a deity is represented holding these objects, it is to signify that they can also be used as wonderful tools for spiritual progress. 

The ‘trunk-coat’ is my favorite. Ganesha’s trunk is shaped like the pranava, the all-pervading cosmic sound that represents the Absolute Reality. Before we go further, I recognize this is open to interpretation, I’m sharing only my perspective from my limited understanding. Continuing, the concept of avatara is about how the Paramatma (Supreme Soul) assumes various forms for different purposes, including uplifting jivatmas (individual souls). In the context of our Rainbow Ganesha, I see a fitting interpretation of how the Absolute Reality ‘wraps’ around itself, the ‘coat’ of an avatara, making it easier for us to relate to and engage with. Interestingly, this aligns with the belief that Ganesha is Pranava Swaroopa, the personification of pranava. What greater expression of compassion could there be than this divine act of making the infinite more accessible to us? 

The good-bag and the bad-bag , to me, represent the obstacle-removing aspect of Ganesha. He clears the obstacles in our spiritual path, by gathering all of them - our worries, anxieties, fears,  conditioning, ego in one bag and blesses us with grace through the other. Potterheads, think of it as something like Hermione’s beaded handbag 😬— only this one is filled with infinite divine grace!

I wanted to document all these ideas and expressions and found myself composing a rhyme of sorts! One thing led to another and we made a video to bring it all together. Initially it was something we made just for ourselves, something to remember this special Ganesha Chathurthi by. But then I remembered something I had come across just the previous day, in a discourse by the Paramacharya of Kanchi, where the Mahaswami said that Ganesha, affectionately called Pillayar by Tamils, is closest to children because he himself is a child. And he plays like a child with us, the children of god.

Now, if only we could remember to see ourselves with the same kindness, as children, learning and growing. To be gentle with ourselves for our imperfections, shortcomings and the conditioning that slows us. In that spirit, looking at the way this idea turned into an expression of a child’s love, I like to think Ganesha is enjoying it. If nothing else, he’s at least having a good laugh about it! 😄

And so, I feel encouraged to share this with all of you all, wonderful children of god, no matter your age! Rainbow Ganesha, colored by a (human) child’s imagination, is our offering, a humble addition to the endless list of depictions of Ganeshas we all love and celebrate.

I hope you enjoy the video as much as we did, putting it together! If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading! And if you have any thoughts you’d like to share, please feel free to email or DM me on social media.