GAŅEŚA STATUE

This Gaņeśa statue, from the Banon Temple in Central Java, is one of the National Museum's stone masterpieces. One of the prominent gods in the Hindu religion, Gaņeśa is the son of the supreme god Śiwa and the goddess Parvati. He is known as the God of Knowledge and the Remover of Obstacles. He is being portrayed with an elephant's head, a boy's body, a potbelly, and hair which is formed into jaţāmukuţa (a crown of hair). He is wearing a caste cord (upawīta) in the form of a snake and has four arms. One of his right hands (foreground) is holding a broken tusk, while the second right hand is displaying a rosary (akșamālā). His left hands are holding a bowl of nectar, symbolizing knowledge, and an axe (parasu) respectively. His trunk is stuck into the bowl, consuming nectar, as a neverending source of knowledge. Gaņeśa is also known as Ganapati (leader of Ganas), Lambodara (potbellied), Gajanana (elephant headed) or Ekadanta (having one tusk). His right tusk was broken in a fight with the ogre Niwatakawaca, who invaded paradise. As the God who removes obstacles and eradicates danger, his statues are often placed at the juncture of rivers, near the edge cliffs, or at the edge of a forest. Gaņeśa's mount is musaka (a mouse). Mice are destructive and a danger to crops and needed to be subdued, which is how the mouse ended up as the mount of Gaņeśa.