Animal Worlds: Remover of Obstacles.Ganesha with his consorts, Northern India (Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (mäd`yə prä`dĭsh), state (2001 provisional pop. 60,385,118), 119,010 sq mi (308,240 sq km), central India, between the Deccan and the Ganges plain. The capital is Bhopal. or Rajasthan), early 11th-century. Sandstone, height: 41 3/8" (105.3 cm). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, and contains one of the largest permanent museum collections in the Americas. . John and Ernestine A. Payne Fund, Helen S Helen, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful of women; daughter of Leda and Zeus, and sister of Castor and Pollux and Clytemnestra. While still a young girl Helen was abducted to Attica by Theseus and Polydeuces, but Castor and Pollux rescued her. . Coolidge Fund, and Keith McLeod Keith McLeod (born November 5 1979 in Canton, Ohio) is an American professional basketball player currently with the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association at the point guard position. Fund, 1989.312. Widely popular in India, Ganesha is known as the Hindu god of good fortune and safe passage. Possessing the power to remove all obstacles in a person's path, Ganesha is most often invoked at the beginning of new experiences, such as building a house, undertaking a journey, or starting a new school year. Statues of Ganesha can be found all over India near entrances to temples (as this one was) or homes, at bridges, and in airports. This sandstone sculpture shows Ganesha sitting beneath a canopy in a casual, cross-legged pose, holding his two female companions on either side of his large lap. Beneath Ganesha's foot is a rat, the animal he rides when he wants to travel. Can you imagine that? One legend about Ganesha's birth says that he was created by his mother, the goddess Parvati, to guard the door of her bath when her husband Shiva Shiva or Siva (shē`və), one of the greatest gods of Hinduism, also called Mahadeva. The "horned god" and phallic worship of the Indus valley civilization may have been a prototype of Shiva worship or Shaivism. was away. One day when Shiva arrived home unexpectedly, Ganesha refused to let him in. Not recognizing his new son, Shiva became angry and cut off his head. On learning Ganesha's identity, the remorseful re·morse·ful adj. Marked by or filled with remorse. re·morse  ful·ly adv. Shiva promised to give him the head of the first creature he
saw, which happened to be an elephant.
?? What kind of super powers do you think Ganesha gains from being part elephant and part human? GalleryCard submitted by Judy Murray, Gallery Instructor Program Coordinator, Department of Education and Public Programs, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. |
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