PLATE XXII
Gaṇeśa
The deity Gaṇeśa is especially honoured as being the god who averts obstacles, whence he becomes a divinity of good fortune, who should be worshipped before each new undertaking. Various legends, hard to reconcile with each other, are told of his parentage and to explain his elephant's head, which is apparently a symbol of wisdom. He is probably a god of some aboriginal tribe who was adopted by Hinduism. From a bronze in the Peabody Museum, Salem, Mass.
