Ganesha

Cleveland Museum of Art

Ganesha

Date
c. 1070
Medium
bronze
Culture
South India, Medieval period, Chola dynasty(10th-13th century)
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Institution
Cleveland Museum of Art
Object ID
145407

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

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 .

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Provenance & credit

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Credit line
Gift of Katharine Holden Thayer
Provenance
(J. J. Klejman, New York, NY) | ?–1970: Katharine Holden Thayer [1898–1985], Cleveland, OH given to the Cleveland Museum of Art | 1970–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Part of LinkedCulture topics

  • Representative object from the topic Buddhist and Hindu Iconography
    Buddhist and Hindu Iconography

    These objects are connected by their representation of sacred figures and deities from Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions across Asian cultures, including sculptures, paintings, and ritual objects depicting buddhas,

    183 objects from 5 institutions

  • Representative object from the topic Hindu Deities and Mythology
    Hindu Deities and Mythology

    These objects depict Hindu gods, goddesses, and mythological narratives, particularly featuring Durga slaying the buffalo demon Mahishasura, along with other deities like Ganesh, Krishna, and Brahma from various South an

    59 objects from 3 institutions

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