Ganesha

It displays the Khmer sculptors’ skill in composing hybrid images that combine the human and the animal in a harmonious, almost natural ensemble. Here Ganesha, whose plumpness is a constant trait, is represented wearing a chignon-cover typical of this period of Khmer art. Seated cross-legged on a square base, he must at first have had four arms: unfortunately the image is mutilated, but we can imagine a rosary and a small axe - two of the deity’s frequent attributes – being held in the upper hands. The conic object clasped in the right hand resting on the knee is probably one of Ganesha’s own tusks – that he himself had cast at the face of the Moon in a fit of temper, one night when she was mocking his awkwardness and ridiculous appearance. As for the spheric object appearing in the palm of his left hand, it may be identified as a sugary cake  Ganesha is fond of and the faithful often bring him as an offering. 

But just why does Ganesha have an elephant’s head? According to an early legend, he would have been conceived by the god Shiva and the goddess Parvati;  admiring the tenderness and vigour in the love frolics of a couple of elephants, one day they playfully assumed the appearance of pachyderms to engage in their carnal relations; this union gave birth to a son with an elephant head. In another version, Ganesh would be the son of Parvati alone. To the child, endowed with the utmost beauty, the goddess entrusted the guarding of her private apartments; one day when the youth was so impudent as to forbid to Shiva the access to his spouse’s room, the furious god beheaded him. Seeing the goddess’s despair, Shiva soon regretted his gesture and ordered that the head of the first creature encountered be sought in order to restore life to Ganesha; it was an elephant, an animal endowed with great intelligence.