Possibly Madhya Pradesh
Mid-tenth to mid-eleventh century CE
Sandstone; 58.5 x 34.8 x 18.415 cm
(23 x 13-11/16 x 7-1/4 in.)
Gift of Clara T. and Gilbert J. Yager in honor of Dr. Charles Morrow and his wife, Mary Morrow, for their many contributions to The University and to the Ackland Art Museum during his term as Provost, 85.2.1
Provenance: Acquired 10 May 1984 from Spink & Son, Ltd., London.

Worshipped as the Lord of Auspicious Beginnings, the elephant-headed Ganesha is one of the most popular Hindu deities, and the narratives about him abound. One story recounts how the goddess Parvati created Ganesha to guard her while she bathed. When her husband, Shiva, returned home, he saw Ganesha emerging from Parvati’s doorway, but failing to recognize him as her son, Shiva decapitated him. To atone, he vowed to give Ganesha the first head he saw, thus providing Ganesha with his most recognizable attribute.1

As Shiva’s son, the Ackland’s Ganesha has his father’s snake draped around his massive shoulders. In his six hands he clasps a battle axe (center left), a bowl of sweets (center right), an elephant goad (upper right), a sweetmeat (upper left), an armrest (lower right), and his sash (lower left).2 As his massive weight implies, Ganesha is extremely fond of sweets, and his trunk reaches for yet another treat from his ubiquitous supply, even before the one in his hand has been consumed.

Ganesha’s broken left tusk was torn off and hurled in embarrassment and anger at the moon, who had laughed at him when Ganesha fell off his vehicle (vahana), a rat, and burst his great belly, according to one story.3 A dancer, a flutist, mythical leonine beasts (vyalas), and seated attendants or donors frame the deity, while above his head, two heavenly beings offer garlands in tribute. Here Ganesha is depicted raising his right foot in dance to the flute player’s music. Ganesha is also worshipped as Lord or Patron of Music and the Arts, as he is believed to have performed a beautiful and elegant dance for his parents at his birth.4

The dancing figure of Ganesha is often found in a niche on the central offset (bhadra) of the southern exterior wall of northern Indian temples (for location of images on the exterior walls, see Fig. 38). The central offset niches of the temple’s three exterior walls commonly contained deities closely related to the divinity worshipped in the sanctum. In a temple dedicated to Shiva, these niches often contain images of Ganesha (south), Shiva’s consort, Parvati (north), and a manifestation of Shiva himself or perhaps his younger son Karttikeya (west), thereby expressing the familial connection between the figures on the outer walls and the deity in the sanctum.5 Ganesha’s placement at the southern side of a temple is associated with his role as the Lord of Beginnings, Remover of Obstacles, and the God of Easy Passage and Good Fortune. Visitors to the temple would have approached the south side first in their ritual clockwise circumambulation (pradakshina) of the temple beginning at the east-facing entrance of the temple, appropriately offering thanks and praise to Ganesha at the commencement of their prayers.

Ganesha’s popularity and the numerous variations in the attributes and poses in which he is depicted make it especially difficult to locate images by formal comparison. Although the exact provenance of this sculpture is not known, its details and treatment can be seen over a broad regional belt stretching across from Rajasthan to Madhya Pradesh and southern Uttar Pradesh into Jharkhand.6 His distinctive striated ears, corpulent belly folds, and swaying pose find precedence in a dancing Ganesha from the Kacchapaghata temple at Batesar, Morena District, Madhya Pradesh (1080 CE).7 The treatment of the eyes bears close resemblance to the Ganesha on the south terrace (jagati) of the Kakanmadh Temple at Suhania, Morena District, Madhya Pradesh (1035 CE).8 EWW

1 This version of the origin of Ganesha is recounted in the Shiva Purana. For a summary of the origin narratives of Ganesha, see Nirmala Yadav, Ganesha in Indian Art and Literature (Jaipur: Publication Scheme, 1997), 7–8.
2 For a discussion of Ganesha’s broad and varied iconography, see Paul Martin-Dubost, Ganesha, the Enchanter of the Three Worlds (Mumbai: Franco-Indian Research Pvt. Limited, 1997), 199–200.
3 The right tusk, however, is broken from damage received after it was carved. In an alternative narrative, Ganesha’s broken tusk is a symbol of knowledge, as he broke it off to record the Mahabarata recited by the sage Vyasa.
4 This version of the origin of the dancing Ganesha is recounted in the Linga Purana (105. 1–30), translated by Nirmala Yadav, 4–5.
5 Darielle Mason, “A Sense of Time and Place, Style and Architectural Disposition of Images on the North Indian Temple,” in Gods, Guardians and Lovers, Temple Sculptures from North India, AD 700–1200, ed. Vishakha N. Desai and Darielle Mason (New York and Ahmedabad: The Asia Society Galleries and Mapin Publishing, 1993), 128–29. However, Ganesha may also appear in other locations on the south side of the temple, such as in a niche on the wall of an attached hall (mandapa), in a basement (vedibandha) niche of either the mandapa or the main shrine, or in a niche of the kapili wall that connects the main shrine with the hall. Email communication from Darielle Mason, 2/28/2006.
6 Email communication from Darielle Mason, 2/28/2006.
7 For an illustration, see AIIS Photographic Archives Neg. 307.90.
8 Email communication from Darielle Mason, 2/28/2006.
For an illustration, see AIIS Photographic Archives Neg. 308.59.