4 Metal Nataraja Ganesh Statue 30"

Ganesh is swirling in His father Shiva's dance of destruction and creation; The dance of Lord Nataraja!  His large form is perfectly balanced on one foot with all His arms spread out like the rays of the sun.  In Ganesh's 16 hands He holds the abhaya mudra, His tusk, an ax, discus, club, knife, elephant goad, arrow, bow, noose, shield, trident, conch, ball of sweets, and a lotus flower.  His magnificent trunk is held up in front of his chest and pointed to His left.  There is a small bell tied around His trunk.  Ganesh dances above his vahana, the rat.  He is wearing a cobra belt across his enormous belly.  The cobra is typically a symbol of Shiva.  The cobra symbolizes the Hindu dogma of reincarnation. Their natural process of molting or shedding their skin is symbolic of the human souls transmigration of bodies from one life to another.

The Ganesh statue was cast using 4 different metals.  The difficulty in making this statue is that each metal has a different melting point thus an in depth knowledge of bronze casting is need to cast statues involving multiple metals. 
Here are the metals used for Ganesh:  Dancing Ganesh is cast from polished bronze.  The rat is black bronze.  The base is cast from ice brass.  The silver arch is made from pewter called german silver in India. 

The symbolism behind the dance of Nataraja  The significance of the Nataraja sculpture is said to be that Shiva is shown as the source of all movement within the cosmos, represented by the arch of flames. The purpose of the dance is to release men from illusion of the idea of the "self" and of the physical world. The cosmic dance was performed in Chidambaram in South India, called the center of the universe by some Hindus. The gestures of the dance represent Shiva's five activities, creation (symbolized by the drum), protection (by the "fear not" hand gesture), destruction (by the fire), embodiment (by the foot planted on the ground), and release (by the foot held aloft).

The chubby, gentle, wise, elephant-headed Ganesh, or Ganesha, is one of Hinduisms most popular deities. He is the remover of obstacles, the deity whom worshippers first acknowledge when they visit a temple. He is also patron of letters and of learning; he is the legendary scribe who, using his broken tusk, which he often holds, wrote down parts of the Mahabharata epic. Ganesh is usually depicted colored red; he is pot bellied, has one tusk broken, and has four arms that may hold a pasam, a goad, and a pot of rice or sweetmeats. The sweet meats are held in a type of bowl known as a laddus. His appetite for these sweets is legendary and offerings of them are often left at his shrine.

Statues of Ganesh can be found in most Indian towns. His image is placed where new houses are to be built; he is honored at the start of a journey or business venture, and poets traditionally invoke him at the start of a book.

A pasam is a triple twine weapon. Each of the three twines represents, arrogance and conceit, Maya - the illusory nature of the real world, ignorance. In Hindu ideology weapons are a viewed as symbolic tools to destroy the ego rather than to cause any type of bloodshed. Goads (or elephant prods) are typically used to direct elephants. Goads are symbolic of how one should steer the soul away from the ignorance and illusions of this earthly world just as a mahout would steer an elephant away from any treacherous path.

Bronze is an extremely durable metal made from a combination of 5 metals; copper, iron, tin, with minute additions of silver and gold.  This combination is called Panchaloha bronze and is the basis for making the sacred Hindu temple statues of India and the world.  Copper is the most prevalent metal in the alloy.  Copper also gives the metal a softer composition that allows the bronze artisans to carve the details that are prevalent in each piece.    All the South Indian bronze sculpture Lotus Sculpture carries are Panchaloham and thus suited for any home altar or community temple.

Because of the durability of the metal not much is needed to maintain a bronze sculpture.  Many of our customers purchase a bronze statue and perform daily puja and abhisheka consisting of bathing the Hindu deity in ghee, milk, coconut milk or other liquids.  In this case nothing is needed to keep the statue clean as it will be bathed daily.  If the sculpture is used for "darshan" or simply viewing the sculpture it is best to dust the statue as needed so no dirt collects in the details of the sculpture. For both polished golden bronzes and antique patina bronze statues if you would like the sculpture to shine use a cotton cloth with some coconut oil or other natural oil to wipe down the piece as needed.

Many of our bronze Hindu statues have been placed in outdoor temples.  Bronze's durability makes it perfect for cold winters and hot summers of any climate.  We suggest you bathe the sculpture every couple of months so that dirt does not collect on the sculpture and then use a cotton cloth with some natural oil to give the statue a shine.  Both indoors and outdoors a bronze statue can be left alone which, overtime, will give the bronze an antique patina.

On some bronze statues you can see small hints of lime green, verde-gris patina.  Some people prize this color for its age others want to remove it.  If you would like to remove the verde-gris use a tooth brush with some coconut oil or other natural oil and lightly go over the verde-gris.  This should remove the unwanted patina from the sculpture.

If you have any questions concerning your bronze statue please email us at info@lotussculpture.com or call us at 1(760) 994-4455.

USA Shipping

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This sculpture is in our Oceanside, California store and ready for immediate shipping. The shipping charge is automatically calculated by UPS for shipping within the United States. Each sculpture is usually shipped within 24 hours of the order with the exception of the weekend. To obtain a shipping quote simply add the statue you are interested in to your shopping cart and then select click on the "Calculate Domestic Shipping" button. Lotus Sculpture uses Instapak foam injection packing system or bubble wrap and recycled peanuts to ensure that all our pieces arrive undamaged. Click here to learn more about Lotus Sculptures packing.

International Shipping

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This sculpture is in our Oceanside, California store and ready for immediate shipping to anywhere in the world. If you are in Canada please select "UPS Standard to Canada" for the shipping option. If you are an international customer please select "International Shipping" during checkout. The shipping charge will be calculated as $0. Lotus Sculpture will email you the correct shipping cost subject to your approval or you may call us at 760-994-4455 or email us at info@lotussculpture.com for a shipping quote. Lotus Sculpture uses Instapak foam injection packing system or bubble wrap and recycled peanuts to ensure that all our pieces arrive undamaged. Click here to learn more about Lotus Sculptures packing.