How Ganesha and Santa Claus: Separated at birth? You decide.

Some people (primarily me) have compared the generous Hindu elephant-headed god Ganesha to the similarly kind-hearted Santa Claus. They are remarkably similar, and anthropological taxonomists (a couple of friends who took Anthropology 101 at university) consider the two personalities to be at least first cousins, and possibly twin brothers, separated at birth. We await DNA analysis.

Here the evidence.

Morphology

 Both Ganesha and Santa Claus are rotund. Two of Ganesha’s 108 names are Lambodara (Pot Belly) and Mahodara (Great Belly). His big stomach can be explained in two ways. First, he has swallowed all the troubles of the world in order to protect mankind from suffering. Second, his cosmic beer belly is necessarily large in order to contain the wisdom of all universes – past, present and future. Santa Claus’s robust figure is due to the perils of Western civilization. He lives a couch-potato existence during most of the year. He sits comfortably in his North Pole hideaway, supervising, by remote closed-circuit TV, thousands of elves who make up his toy-making workforce. In his leisure time, it is thought he takes no exercise but relaxes in front of the fire, thinking about how to make children happy while enjoying his wife’s home-baked cookies.

  Ganesha and Santa Claus were created about the same time.

  The first records of Ganesha date to the fourth-to-fifth centuries CE. Santa Claus’s precursor was Saint Nicholas, a fourth-century CE Greek Christian bishop who lived in what today is Turkey. A devoutly pious Christian, he is usually portrayed as a full-bearded bishop in red ceremonial robes and was noted for offering generous gifts to the poor.

 Making a list of whose been naughty and nice

 Ganesha keeps a record of whose been nice (in his world view, that means upholding Hindu dharma). He doesn’t remove obstacles simply because someone asks, he insists that the devotee makes an appropriate offering and be of good heart. Santa Claus not only has a list, he checks it twice.

 Sweet tooth, lactose-tolerant

Both Ganesha and Santa Claus enjoy sugary delicacies and a glass of milk. Ganesha’s favorite treats are sweet-dumplings called modak (central India) or laddu (north India). They are shaped like money parcels, related to Ganesha’s ability to help a believer become wealthy. And Ganesha has a well-documented love of milk, evidenced by a “milk miracle” that occurred in September 1995 when a devotee in New Delhi saw a Ganesha statue “drink” a spoonful of milk that was offered. This event was quickly followed by dozens of similar events, creating a nationwide sensation that quickly went global. Indian soldiers on the western border with Punjab stopped their maneuvers to worship Ganesha. The Bombay and Delhi stock exchanges closed while traders offered milk to Ganesha. A rumor spread that an elephant-headed boy, a possible reincarnation of Ganesha, had been born that morning in a Punjab town. The right-wing Hindu political parties pounced on this sensation (some cynics say they instigated it) declaring the milk-drinking was a “prophecy” that they would win the general election the following year. (The 1996 election produced a hung parliament, with no single party having a clear majority.) The phenomenon, which had quickly spread globally, stopped as quickly as it had started. Indian scientists proved that the “miracle” was caused by a combination of surface tension and capillary effect. Santa Claus is known to appreciate homemade cookies and a glass of cold milk waiting for him when he makes a home visit. (Note: One Christmas I awoke to find a note from Santa: “Thanks for the milk, but next year perhaps you might leave a beer.”)

 Flashy outfits and unique style-sense

Ganesha is pictured with powerful symbols of his importance. He often sits on a throne in what is called the “regal” posture. He might be pictured with an assortment of “attributes” (he has some 74 in total) including the trident of his father Shiva, representing the three-pronged powers of love, wisdom and action. He might hold a lotus, symbolizing enlightenment emerging from murky spiritual waters. He has a sacred serpent, the Naga, entwined around his body, representing Kundalini power. He wields a noose to enable the faithful to arrest delusion, curb the ego and restrain passion. Santa Claus, too, has a unique sense of personal grooming and fashion. He has never cut his white hair or beard, wears small round spectacles and always appears in public wearing the same distinctive outfit — a bright red coat with white fur collar and cuffs, white-fur-cuffed red trousers, red hat with white fur and a black leather belt and boots.

In this early 20th bronze from Sri Lanka in the author’s collection, Ganesha is shown in his chariot, being pulled by his trusty “vehicle” Musika.