2-999-821 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Parvati Nursing Ganesha, 19th century. India's multiple religious traditions produced lively exchanges in the representation of the divine. Here, the artist adapted Christian iconography of the Virgin and Child for a touching image of the Hindu goddess Parvati nursing her elephant-headed son Ganesha. According to one story, Parvati, wife of the god Shiva, desperately wanted a child and created a boy to guard her door while Shiva was away. Prevented from entering Parvati's room when he returned, Shiva became so enraged that he decapitated the boy. At Parvati's insistence, Shiva sent his servants to find the child a new head. They came back with the head of an elephant, and with it Ganesha was restored to life.