Dancing Ganesha

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This ten-armed dancing Ganesha holds his broken tusk, weapons, a pot with sweetmeats, and many other attributes that have broken away. Two snakes—one stretched above his head, the other drawn across his chest as a sacred thread—are attributes that connect him to his father, Shiva. Unlike smaller portable images cast in metal, this large, sandstone example would have been placed in a temple niche to remove obstacles standing between the worshipper and the divine. As leader of the ganas (nature deities), Ganesha stands in a pose that emphasizes his playful and rambunctious nature—in contrast to his father Shiva’s cosmic dance of creation and destruction. As remover of obstacles, Ganesha clears a path to access Shiva while also bestowing wealth and prosperity.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art