Dancing Ganapati

In the Buddhist context, the famous Indian elephant-headed god is called Ganapati, or “Master of the Hosts,” which in this case are hindering demons. The twelve-armed form of this god belongs to a set of three protectors known as the Three Great Red Deities, the others being the goddess Kurukulla and the protector Takkiraja. All three are associated with the red Buddha Amitabha. In this form Ganapati functions as both a remover of hindrances and as powerful wealth-bestowing deity and creator of favorable conditions.