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Dancing Ganesha

India

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 251

Standing on the back of his rat vehicle, Ganesha lifts one leg and tilts his shoulders in an exuberant dance. Two celestial musicians at his feet accompany him with cymbals and drums. Following Pala artistic conventions, he stands on a double lotus that grows out of swirly foliage. At lower left and right are a pair of small donor figures holding their hands together in a gesture of veneration (anjali mudra). The dance of creation and the destruction of corruption performed by his father Shiva to renew the universe is echoed in this exuberant figure of Ganesha.

On view from November 19, 2022 – June 16, 2024

Dancing Ganesha, Schist, India

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