Bengaluru: Ganesh Chaturthi is round the corner, but for this doctor, his idol of Ganesha will not be headed for a water body, but will stay home. It is, after all, believed to be the oldest Ganesha idol on the planet.
“I am really happy that my love for antiques was blessed this way," says Dr Prakash Kothari, a Padma Shri awardee, and Founder, professor and Head of the Department of Sexual Medicine at Seth G.S. Medical College and KEM Hospital in Mumbai.
Mr Kothari stumbled upon the idol while walking through 'Chor Bazaar' in Mumbai. "I liked the terracotta seal with a bull which caught my fancy. Surprisingly, neither the seller nor I knew what was behind the seal. It was only years later while I was in my office, one day that, completely by chance, I looked at it closely and zoomed in on the reddish-brown terracotta seal and spotted the carved, two-handed Ganesha with a halo behind his head on one side and an image of Nandi and a Brahmi inscription that read Jagesvara on the other," says Dr Kothari.
Intrigued, Dr Kothari sent the terracotta seal - 20 mm in diameter and 5 mm in thickness, weighing around 2.89 grams. - to various experts in ancient history and epigraphy to find out more.
Dr Shrinivas Ritti, professor, Ancient History and Epigraphy at Karnataka University, Dharwad, declared that the seal dated back to the 4th-5th century AD. "Dr T.R. Ravishankar, Director, Epigraphy, Archaeological Survey of India, Mysuru, dates it to 2nd century AD. I also sent it to another expert, Prashant P. Kulkarni, president of the Indian Coin Society, who has attested that it dates back to the 3rd-4th century," says Dr Kothari.
Dr O.P.L. Srinivastava, registering officer, Antiquities and Art Treasures, Department of Culture, Allahabad, told him that it could even be older.
"He believes it must have been made in the 1st century," he says. This makes the idol the oldest Ganesha in existence. The first one was discovered in China in 531 AD. If all these experts are to be believed, Dr Kothari's artefact predates the Chinese idol.
Dr Kothari, who was awarded the Padma Shri in January 2002 for his contribution to the field of sexual medicine, says, "I have 250 different pieces of Lord Ganesha and all are rare. But this one is the closest to my heart for obvious reasons. Devotees will be thrilled to know that the oldest Ganesha on the planet is in India and owned by an Indian."
