Ganesh, Remover of Obstacles and Lord of Auspicious Beginnings

ca. late 10th to early 11th century

The popular elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesh removes the obstacles that stand in the way of us achieving our goals. People honor him for luck and when they begin something new. Near Ganesh’s right foot crouches his mouse vahana. Together, the two can trample down or wiggle through any obstacle. Mythologically connected to Shiva, Ganesh wears that god’s snake across his chubby belly and chest. In many Shiva temples, Ganesh occupies the south wall, where worshippers begin their ritual clockwise walks around the shrine.

Sandstone

18 1/4 x 9 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. (46.36 x 24.13 x 13.97 cm)

Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection

39.33

Photo: Elizabeth Mann

Now on view at the Asian Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistoryLos Angeles, California, Los Angeles County Museum, Art Of Greater India, 1950.

Portland, Oregon, Portland Art Museum, Gift to a City: Masterworks from the Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection in the Seattle Art Museum, Nov. 3- 28, 1965. Cat. no. 80.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing.

Published References"Gift to a City" exhibition catalogue. Portland, OR: Portland Art Museum, 1965, cat. no. 80

"Handbook, Seattle Art Museum: Selected Works from the Permanent Collections." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1951, p. 29 (b&w)

Verardi, Giovanni. "Notes on Afghan Archaeology, Il Ganesa Seated on Lion: a New Sahi Marble," in East and West, Vol. 27 No. 1/4 (Dec 1977), p. 277-283.

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