Ganesha
c. 1070
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
Ganesha, the god of wealth and abundance, is an auspicious and revered Hindu deity. He removes obstacles and protects his worshipers. Numerous myths explain how Ganesha became an elephant-man composite, but the most popular version relates the story of how he was decapitated by his enraged father, Shiva, and restored to life through the intervention of his mother, Parvati. Shiva agreed to revive him with the head of the first creature encountered: an elephant. Ganesha's strength—his profound spiritual wisdom—contrasts with his weakness for sweets, as indicated by his pudginess and the sweet <em>modaka</em> he carries. In Ganesha, opposing forces exist in perfect harmony.
- Title: Ganesha
- Date Created: c. 1070
- Physical Dimensions: Overall: 50.8 x 25.4 x 17.8 cm (20 x 10 x 7 in.); Base: 23 x 18.3 cm (9 1/16 x 7 3/16 in.)
- Provenance: (J. J. Klejman, New York, NY), Katharine Holden Thayer [1898–1985], Cleveland, OH given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Sculpture
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1970.62
- Medium: bronze
- Fun Fact: Ganesha pulls his own broken tusk in one hand, which he used as a pen to write the epic <em>Mahabharata</em>.
- Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Culture: South India, Medieval period, Chola dynasty(10th-13th century)
- Credit Line: Gift of Katharine Holden Thayer
- Collection: Indian Art
- Accession Number: 1970.62
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