This auspicious 18th century Ganesha figure is a Valampuri Ganesha (where the trunk is turned to the right. Valampuri Ganesha is the most auspicious of Ganesh figures as the remover of obstacles. This style of miniature Ganesha would have been used in a personal home shrine. 

This bronze figure is from Tamil Nadu with considerable signs of age and ritual wear including pink tikka paste. He holds an axe in one of his four hands and what looks to be a Shiva lingam between his feet. His belly is plump and amble as always with Ganesh. Tamil Ganesha are often identifiable by their carved Padma peetam plinths. 

Ganesh is one of the prime Hindu deities and the son of Shiva & Parvati with an elephantine countenance with a curved trunk and big ears and a huge pot-bellied body of a human being. Ganesh is an ever-blissful, elephant-headed god lovingly worshipped and revered by millions of Hindus worldwide. He is the God of good luck and auspiciousness and is also worshipped as the God of wisdom, wealth, health, celibacy, fertility and happiness. Ganesh is also worshipped as the god of education, knowledge, success, and the fine arts.

The mythological story of Ganesh is that Parvati was bathing in the forest and a boy was guarding her privacy. Shiva wished to pass to see Parvati, but the boy wouldn't allow him. Shiva became angry and cut off the boy's head. Parvati returned from bathing and exclaimed that the dead boy was her son. Shiva sent his men back to get his head but they could only find an elephant's head so they put that on instead & the boy lived again.

From India

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