Favourite Sweets of Ganesha · History of Modak, Onde Onde, Klepon, Kangidan, Kanom Nab, Num Kom |Tony Johor Kaki Travels for Food · Heritage · Culture

Ganesha the elephant-headed god is one of the most recognisable deities in the Hindu pantheon. Ganesha is the remover of obstacles, god of wisdom and intelligence, and the god of fortune. Ganesha worshippers seek his blessings before any major endeavour.

Ganesha worship is believed to have started in the first century AD in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, north India. It spread far and wide around around the world not only in Hindu communities but among Buddhists as well.

There are many versions of Ganesha's birth, all with slight variations but the central tenets are basically the same. According to the version from the Shiva Purana text (written 10th century), Ganesha's parents were Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. While Lord Shiva was away on his meditation wanderings, Goddess Parvati fashioned a child with dirt from the creases of her body and breathed life to it.

One day, Parvati tasked Ganesha to guard the house while she bathed. Lord Shiva returned home finding his way into his own house blocked by Ganesha. In his rage, Lord Shiva cut off Ganesha's head.

When Parvati told Lord Shiva that Ganesha was his son, Lord Shiva took an elephant's head and installed it on Ganesha. Hence, Ganesha has the head of an elephant.

In Ganesha's third hand, he holds a bowl of sweets.

Ganesha likes all things sweet. He likes sweet smells, and his favourite flower is hibiscus. He likes sweet food, so devotees offer sweets to Ganesha as a gesture of love and devotion.

Ganesha's birthday is celebrated annually in Aug - Sep as the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. Ganesha receives the most sweets during Ganesh Chaturthi. Devotees offer him sweets like laddu, peda, modak, etc.

Laddu are hand kneaded sweet balls of jaggery, milk and nuts boiled with grated coconut meat, mung bean, rice vermicelli, etc.

Peda is a cookie made with milk and jaggery, and flavoured with cardamon, pistachio, saffron, etc.

Ganesha's favourite sweet is modak. He loves modak so much that, Ganesha is also known as Modakapriyaya (which in Sanskrit means "the one who loves modak").

There are two types of modak both filled with grated coconut pulp and jaggery - fried wheat dumpling or steamed rice dumpling (ukadiche modak).

Fourth century Ganesha statue now in Uttar Pradesh, India.

Sixth century statue of Ganesha from Karnataka (south India) with a bowl of laddu.

Eighth century Ganesha statue at Dantewada in Chhattisgarh, east India.

Eleventh century Ganesha statue from the mighty Chola dynasty in south India (which influence at its zenith reached most of the Malay Archipelago and Southeast Asia).

Worship of Ganesha spread from India to Southeast Asia from the around the 5th century during Chola rule from 300BC to 1279AD.

Let's trace the journey of modak by following the footsteps of Lord Ganesha from India through Southeast Asia to Japan.

Ganesa by Rmn-Grand Palais on Sketchfab

Ganesha statue excavated from Cambodia, now in Musée Guimet, Paris.

Num kom, the Khmer version of modak is made with glutinous rice and wrapped in banana leaf before steaming. It is filled with grated coconut pulp and jaggery just like modak. There are variations with mung bean and ground peanut filling.

Laos postage stamp featuring Ganesha issued in 1971.

The Laotian version of modak, kanom nab, is very similar to the Khmer variety. Both are made with glutinous rice with coconut and jaggery filling, wrapped in banana leaf and cooked by steaming.

Eighth century Cham, Vietnam Ganesha statue near Hoi An.

Known as bánh ít nhân dừa, the Vietnamese version of modak is very similar to their Laotian and Khmer counterparts.

Fourteenth century Ganesha from the Majapahit empire in Java, Indonesia.

Contemporary statue of Ganesha with sweets in Bali (Indonesia).

Klepon or onde onde.

The origins of the boiled Indonesian glutinous rice balls green with pandan leaves, filled with palm sugar and coated with grated coconut is uncertain. There are various theories attributing it to the British Cornish pastry, Portuguese empanada and Indian samosa, none of which are rice balls, use coconut, jaggery or boiled / steamed. I like to explore my own theory that klepon / onde onde could be the Indonesian version of the steamed modak (ukadiche modak).

Contemporary statue of Ganesha (known as Kangiten 歡喜天 in Japan), now in Hiroshima.

The Japanese version of modak is known as kangidan 歓喜団. It is like the fried version of modak - the shell is made of wheat and rice flour dough but instead of coconut and jaggery, the "bag" is filled with red bean paste and incense.

Ganesha on a coin issued by the British East India Company in 1818.

I am still on my journey of tracing Ganesha's footsteps and his sweets across Southeast Asia and East Asia. Appreciate your support on any ideas or insights on Ganesha and his favourite sweets on Asian cuisine.

Questions for further research:

Is the Chinese tang yuan 汤圆 or ronde as Indonesians call it the mother of klepon or onde onde?