The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Grey sandstone sculpture of Ganesha, a god with a human body and elephant head, ears flaring on either side. Ganesh wears a short sampot, a cloth wrapped around the waist and falling just over the knees, the lower legs broken off below. Parts of both arms are missing, Ganesha's right hand clutching a radish against the side of his belly. His trunk hangs down and bends towards his left hand, partially broken away.

Ganesha

600s

Southern Cambodia or Vietnam

sandstone
Overall: 122 x 58.7 x 23.8 cm (48 1/16 x 23 1/8 x 9 3/8 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1987.147
Location: 243 Indian and Southeast Asian

Did You Know?

Ganesha wears a short sampot held by a narrow belt.

Description

Among the first Hindu deities to be venerated in the form of a large-scale stone sculpture in Southeast Asia, Ganesha presides over obstacles, either creating or removing them. At the beginning of any endeavor, to assure its success, worshipers affectionately offer him prayers and food, such as the sweet cakes and radish he enjoys in this sculpture.
  • ?–1987
    (Adrian Maynard Oriental Art, London, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1987–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review for 1987.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 75, no. 2 (1988): 30–71. Mentioned: no. 202, pp. 32 and 71; Reproduced: no. 202, p. 35 www.jstor.org
  • Reinstallation of “Krishna Lifting Mount Govardhan”. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 12, 2024-November 2, 2025).
    The Year in Review for 1987. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 24-April 17, 1988).
  • {{cite web|title=Ganesha|url=false|author=|year=600s|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1987.147