potbellied, elephant headed figure with four arms; wearing traditional arm bands, bracelets, ankle ornaments and necklace; trousers of patterned material, crown with crescent moon and skull, and snake worn diagonally from L shoulder; hair piled high with hair in rope strands forming circular patterns in crown; sitting with both legs placed symmetrically beneath body with soles of feet facing each other directly with a gap between them; figure holds: broken tusk in LR hand, rosary in UR hand, battle axe in UL hand, and sweet meats in LL hand; figure sits on a double pedestal above a plain square base; disc halo behind head

Ganesha, 10th-11th century

Unknown artist, expand_more
On View in Gallery 213expand_more

Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu god, sits erect on a base shaped as a double lotus. Pot bellied and with his chubby feet pressed together, he eats sweetmeats from a bowl in his lower left hand. Considered to be the destroyer of obstacles, Ganesha is invoked at the launch of any enterprise, from weddings to the opening of a new business. He is believed to remove distractions and protect one from evil. Although this sculpture was created within a Hindu-Buddhist context on the island of Java, Ganesha’s universal charm abounds. Today, his image remains on the currency of Indonesia, home to the largest Muslim population in the world.

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Details
Title
Ganesha
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2003.198
Curator Approved

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potbellied, elephant headed figure with four arms; wearing traditional arm bands, bracelets, ankle ornaments and necklace; trousers of patterned material, crown with crescent moon and skull, and snake worn diagonally from L shoulder; hair piled high with hair in rope strands forming circular patterns in crown; sitting with both legs placed symmetrically beneath body with soles of feet facing each other directly with a gap between them; figure holds: broken tusk in LR hand, rosary in UR hand, battle axe in UL hand, and sweet meats in LL hand; figure sits on a double pedestal above a plain square base; disc halo behind head