Panchamukha

Hanuman

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 a god associated with or a form of Vishnu, 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 Panchamukhahanumat 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 Pratyangira as human sacrifices in Patala, the netherworld. Hanuman rescues the two brothers from their captivity, killing the demon,^[8] and destroys the human sacrifices by extinguishing the five sacrificial lamps simultaneously by manifesting his five faces.^[9]^[10]

Shiva

The god Shiva is sometimes represented in his panchamukha form, each connoting one of his attributes:^[11]^[12]

His upward face is called iśānam, and represents knowledge and nature. It is supposed to be depicted in a copper hue.
His eastern face is called tatpuruṣam, and represents the organs of touch and action. It is supposed to be depicted in a yellow hue.
His northern face is called vāmadevam, and represents the ego and fire. It is supposed to be depicted in a red hue.
His southern face is called aghoram, and represents intellect and righteousness. It is supposed to be depicted in a blue hue.
His western face is called sadyojātam, and represents the mind and the substance called soma. It is supposed to be depicted in a white hue.

Brahma

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 fingernails 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

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

The goddess Gayatri, the personification of the Gayatri mantra, is depicted to possess five faces in her iconography. Four of her heads stand for the four Vedas, while the fifth head stands for the Ultimate Reality.^[15]

Iconography

Hanuman

Shiva

Brahma

Ganesha

Gayatri

Temples

Panchmukhi Hanuman temple, Basatiyawala

Panchmukhi Hanuman Temple, Karachi

See also

References

Wikiwand - on