South India, Medieval period, Chola dynasty(10th-13th century) / c. 1070
Ganesha
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Ganesha as sculpture (South India, Medieval period, Chola dynasty(10th-13th century) · c. 1070).
Ganesha pulls his own broken tusk in one hand, which he used as a pen to write the epic Mahabharata .
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this sculpture as bronze.
The museum's collection notes: 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
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The Cleveland Museum of ArtGaneshaOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.