Ganesha Marble India, Gujarat or Rajasthan

The elephant-headed Lord of Plenty seen here in four-armed form standing in subtle tribhanga on a recessed plinth, flanked by two attendants, his trunk furling across his chest and dipping into a bowl piled high with sweets in his lower left hand. He holds a parasu and gada in two of his other hands and his mount the rat, is seen at his feet, sitting on its haunches and devouring a sweet that seems to have fallen from the bowl. Ganesha is ornamented in several necklaces, an elaborate girdle and a crown suspending beaded festoons over his forehead. The sides of the stele are carved in an architectural format with two diminutive seated figures set within niches on either side of the deity’s head.   

Ganesha is one of the most cherished deities in the Hindu pantheon. Revered as Vighneshvara or the remover of obstacles, his blessings are invoked at the beginning of any new endeavor. His love of sweets is proverbial and is evidenced by his pronounced potbelly by which he is universally recognized.

Marble was the principal sculptural medium in Western India during this period and a profusion of temples were built in service of Jainism, which was the predominant religion. Sculptures of Hindu deities from this time are therefore relatively rare, although it is known that Hindu temples such as the Adhar Devi Temple dedicated to Durga and the Achaleshwar Mahadeo Temple dedicated to Shiva were built adjacent to the famous Jain Dilwara temples on Mount Abu. It is very likely that the present image was part of a similar monument.