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Panchamukha

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Panchamukha Shiva, 16th century CE, Ayutthaya. Photograph from the National Museum, Bangkok, Thailand.

Panchamukha (Sanskrit: पञ्चमुख, romanized: Pañcamukha, lit. 'five faces'), also rendered Panchamukhi, is a concept in Hindu iconography, in which a deity is represented with five heads.[1] Several Hindu deities are depicted with five faces in their iconography, such as Hanuman, Shiva, Brahma, Ganesha, Gayatri.[2]

Iconography

Hanuman

Correct statue of Panchamukhi Hanuman depicting the five heads in their correct position
The Panchamukhi Hanuman Statue at Shirdi in Maharashtra, India.

The god Hanuman is sometimes featured with five-faces in his iconography, known as Panchamukhi Hanuman, or Panchamukha Anjaneya.[3] Each head is that of Garuda, a god associated with Vishnu and Vishnu himself in four forms, and is depicted to be facing a cardinal direction: Hanuman faces the east, Narasimha faces the south, Varaha faces the north, Garuda faces the west, and Hayagriva faces the sky. This iconography is not regarded to exist in mainstream Hinduism, and has been primarily featured in the Tantra tradition only since the 15th century CE.[4][5] The description of the appearance of Panchamukha Hanuman is found in a Tantric treatise called the Hanumat Rahashyam. The section of the text called the Panchamukhahanumata Kavacham contains a description of this form.[6][7]

This form of the god also appears in regional traditions of the Ramayana. In one version, Rama and Lakshmana are captured by Ahiravana, and are offered to a goddess as sacrifices in Patala, the netherworld. Hanuman rescues the brothers from their captivity, kills Ahiravana,[8] and saves them from him by extinguishing five lamps simultaneously by manifesting his five faces and the goddess blesses them.[9][10]

Shiva

Main article: Sadashiva

The god Shiva is sometimes represented in his Panchamukha aspect, each connoting one of his attributes:[11][12]

  1. His upward face is called Iśānam, and represents knowledge and nature. It is supposed to be depicted in a copper hue.
  2. His eastern face is called Tatpuruṣam, and represents the organs of touch and action. It is supposed to be depicted in a yellow hue.
  3. His western face is called Vāmadevam, and represents the ego and fire. It is supposed to be depicted in a red hue.
  4. His southern face is called Aghoram, and represents intellect and righteousness. It is supposed to be depicted in a blue hue.
  5. His northern face is called Sadyojātam, and represents the mind and the powers possessed by it. It is supposed to be depicted in a white hue.

Brahma

Painting of Brahma and Shiva as Bhairava.

The god Brahma, while most commonly depicted with four heads, is also mentioned with five heads in Hindu literature. According to one legend, after Brahma gave birth to the first woman with Sarasvati, named Shatarupa, he grew infatuated by her, despite the protests of sages that she was his biological daughter. The first woman had offered her respects to her father by circumambulating him. Unable to control himself, in desperation to maintain his sight of her, Brahma manifested three heads to his sides and also one atop his head. This exhausted him of all of his merits and the sages told Shiva to save her from Brahma. Shiva then reached Brahma and cut his fifth head on the top, so that she cannot be seen by him from that head above and married her to Svayambhuva Manu and fused that head to the inside of his body after Vishnu to told him to do so and Brahma did not get infatuated with Shatarupa afterwards. Afterwards, Brahma fought with Shiva for his supremacy against him, his fifth head insulted him as just having one head. Shiva responded by manifesting his own Panchamukha aspect of five heads, and sliced off Brahma's fifth head with his trident in his another form of Bhairava and then fused it in him after Vishnu revealed that he was supreme and that were below him and told him to do do then there.[13]

Ganesha

Main article: Heramba
Panchamukha Ganesha, the San Diego Museum of Art

The god Ganesha is sometimes represented with five faces in his iconography, called Heramba or Panchamukha Ganesha. Each head of the deity is said to represent the five koshas, the sheaths of annamaya, pranamaya, manomaya, vijñānamaya, anandamaya.[14]

Gayatri

Bazaar art of Gayatri, featured with five heads.

The goddess Gayatri, the combined form of Sarasvati, Lakshmi, Parvati as the goddess of the Gayatri Mantra, is depicted to possess five faces in her iconography. Four of her heads are stated to depict the four Vedas, while the fifth head stands for the Ultimate Reality.[15]

Temples

Panchmukhi Hanuman temple, Basatiyawala

The Panchmukhi Hanuman temple of Basatiyawala is situated in the Yamunanagar district of Haryana near Kalesar National Park.[16]

Shri Panchmukhi Hanuman Temple

Panchmukhi Hanuman Temple, Karachi

A Panchmukhi Hanuman temple is located in Karachi in the Sindh Province of Pakistan.[17] It is claimed to be a 1,500 year old temple.[18]

See also

References

  1. ^ Lingham, Durgadas (Rodney) (2013-11-03). Exploring Mantric Ayurveda: Secrets and Insights of Mantra-Yoga and Healing. Lulu.com. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-304-59409-9.
  2. ^ www.wisdomlib.org (2017-07-05). "Pancamukha, Pañcamukha, Panca-mukha, Pancan-mukha, Pamcamukha: 11 definitions". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  3. ^ Itihas. Director of State Archives, Government of Andhra Pradesh. 1992. p. 9.
  4. ^ Urbani, Bernardo; Youlatos, Dionisios; Antczak, Andrzej T. (2022-08-18). World Archaeoprimatology: Interconnections of Humans and Nonhuman Primates in the Past. Cambridge University Press. p. 450. ISBN 978-1-108-80327-4.
  5. ^ Five Heads and no tail: Hanuman and the popularization of Tantra by Philip Lutgendorf, 2001, International Journal of Hindu Studies, Vol. 5, No. 3, Page 269-296
  6. ^ Hanumad Rahashyam with Hindi Commentary by Shivdutta Mishra Shastri, pp-130-133 | url=https://archive.org/details/wg989/page/n4/mode/1up
  7. ^ Five Heads and no tail: Hanuman and the popularization of Tantra by Philip Lutgendorf, 2001, International Journal of Hindu Studies, Vol. 5, No. 3, Page 269-296
  8. ^ Dalal, Roshen (2014-04-18). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin UK. p. 526. ISBN 978-81-8475-277-9.
  9. ^ Tripathy, Dr Preeti (2010). Indian Religions: Tradition, History and Culture. Axis Publications. p. 215. ISBN 978-93-80376-17-2.
  10. ^ Murty, Sudha (2018-09-25). The Upside-Down King: Unusual Tales about Rama and Krishna. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. p. 89. ISBN 978-81-8475-417-9.
  11. ^ Seth, Kailash Nath; Chaturvedi, B. K. (2000). Gods And Goddesses Of India. Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd. p. 41. ISBN 978-81-7182-069-6.
  12. ^ www.wisdomlib.org (2015-05-25). "Pancabrahma, Pañcabrahma, Panca-brahma: 5 definitions". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  13. ^ Bonnefoy, Yves (1993-05-15). Asian Mythologies. University of Chicago Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-226-06456-7.
  14. ^ Iyer, V. K. (2013-12-30). 7 Steps to the Art of Tanjore Painting. Partridge Publishing. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-4828-1161-2.
  15. ^ Chandra, Suresh (1998). Encyclopaedia of Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Sarup & Sons. p. 102. ISBN 978-81-7625-039-9.
  16. ^ Kalesar-Kalka stretch to be promoted for tourism, The Tribune, 18 jan 2019.
  17. ^ "Diwali celebrations begin in Karachi Prayer services, ceremonies organised at temples across the city". Dawn. 27 December 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  18. ^ Rabia Ali (19 February 2012). "Recycling history: And all of Hanuman's men put this temple together again". Express Tribune. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
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