Ganesh (also spelled Ganesa or Ganesha, and also known as Vinayaka, Ganapati, and Pillaiyar) is one of the most well-known and worshipped deities of the Hindu pantheon. His image can be found throughout India. Hindu sects worship him regardless of their affiliations. Devotion to Ganesha is widely diffused, extending to Jains, Buddhists, and around the world. Easily identified by his elaphant head, Ganesh is widely revered as Remover of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings, patron of arts and sciences, and the deva of wisdom and intellect. Ganesh is honoured at the start of ceremonies and rituals, and invoked as Patron of Letters during writing sessions.
Ganesh has been represented with an elephant's head since his first appearances in Indian art. Puranic myths provide several explanations for how he got this head. One of his popular forms, Heramba-Ganapati, has five elephant heads. Some texts say that he was born with the head, whilch most stories have him acquiring the head later. The most recurrent theme in these stories is that Ganesh was born with a human head and body, and Shiva beheaded him when Ganesh came between Shiva and Parvati. Shiva replaced Ganesh's original head with that of an elephant. In another story, Ganesh's mother Parvati showed off her newborn to the other gods. Unfortunately, Shani (Saturn) who is said to have the evil eye looked at Ganesh, causing his head to burn into ashes. Vishnu came to the rescue, replacing Ganesh's missing head with that of an elephant. In another story, Ganesh was created by Shiva's daughter. Because Shiva considered Ganesh too alluring, he gave him teh head of an elephant and protruding belly.
Cold Cast is a modern method of casting sculptures using a mixture of resin and powdered polymer materials. The finished sculpture has a surface which looks very similar to traditionally cast material, but tends to be much lighter.
