The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Orange-brown sandstone sculpture of the goddess Ganga carved from a panel, her head and left arm broken off. Beaded jewelry wraps around her arms, neck, and waist, her legs clearly visible through the fine diagonal lines suggesting a skirt as she sways her hips to her left, two figures a third her size partially visible to the side of her right arm. She stands among rocks with swirling tendrils beneath her feet.

River Goddess Ganga

c. 700

Northern India, Uttar Pradesh, Mathura

sandstone
Overall: 108 cm (42 1/2 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1966.119
Location: 243 Indian and Southeast Asian

Did You Know?

The vein of red sandstone visible in the broken top locates the source as a quarry near Mathura.

Description

The Ganges River that runs from the Himalaya Mountains east to the Bay of Bengal is India's most sacred river. Hindu myths tell of how the god Shiva held out a lock of his hair to catch the fall of the heavenly river, identified with the Milky Way, so that it would trickle gently to earth. The river is personified as the goddess Ganga, and since she flows eternally through the hair of Shiva, the river is considered holy. Sculptures of Ganga were placed at the doorway of temples, for the image of the purifying waters symbolically cleanses those who enter the sacred space. She stands on a crocodile-like creature called makara, here shown with a fancifully foliated tail.
  • ?–1966
    (Robert Rousset [1901–1982], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1966–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 231 archive.org
    Lee, Sherman E. "Golden Anniversary Acquisitions: September 10 through October 16." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 53, no. 7 (1966): 181–284. Reproduced: p. 254, no. 142; Mentioned: p. 255, no. 142 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 231 archive.org
    Lerner, Martin. "Some Unpublished Sculpture from Harshagiri." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 56, no. 10 (1969): 354-64. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 359. fig. 6 www.jstor.org
    Czuma, Stanislaw. “Mathura Sculpture in the Cleveland Museum Collection.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 64, no. 3, 1977, pp. 83–114. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 110, fig. 38 25152680
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 292 archive.org
  • Reinstallation of “Krishna Lifting Mount Govardhan”. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 12, 2024-November 2, 2025).
    Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).
  • {{cite web|title=River Goddess Ganga|url=false|author=|year=c. 700|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1966.119