Ganesha
South India, Medieval period, Chola dynasty(10th-13th century) · c. 1070 · Cleveland Museum of Art
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From the museum
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 modaka he carries. In Ganesha, opposing forces exist in perfect harmony. Ganesha pulls his own broken tusk in one hand, which he used as a pen to write the epic Mahabharata.
The museum’s own description, in English. Licence: CC0
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Details
- Maker
- South India, Medieval period, Chola dynasty(10th-13th century)
- Date
- c. 1070
- Medium
- bronze
- 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.)
- Place of origin
- South India
- Held by
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland · On view · 244 Indian and Southeast Asian
- Credit line
- Gift of Katharine Holden Thayer
Image: Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0
Shown in
- Indian Gallery 242 Rotation – April-November 2017Apr 10, 2017 – Nov 6, 2017
- Gallery One 2012Dec 12, 2012 – Mar 5, 2017
- Streams and Mountains Without End: Asian Art and the Legacy of Sherman E. Lee at the Cleveland Museum of ArtJun 27, 2009 – Aug 23, 2009
- The Sensuous and the Sacred: Chola Bronzes from South IndiaJul 6, 2003 – Sep 14, 2003
- Dance of the Gods: Indian Art Inspired by MusicSep 24, 1996 – Dec 8, 1996