HAND CARVED KAVADI WITH GANESHA

This beautiful and intricately hand carved vertical wooden panel is actually a shoulder panel that is carried during the Kavadi Attam. It has Lord Ganesha on his mount Mouse carved on it as the central figures along with intricate details all over. This vintage panel is believed to be from Tamil Nadu or Kerala.

Kavadi Attam which in Tamil translates into Burden dance is a ceremony for sacrifice and offerings practiced by devotees of Lord Murugan, the eldest son of Shiva and Parvati. On the day of the festival, the devotees set out on a set pilgrimage carrying different kinds of Kavadi (burden) like these wooden panels. It is symbolic of people carrying burdens in life and asking the Lord to release them from all the material bondage.

Lord Ganesha, also known as Vinayaka, is the younger son of Shiva and Parvati, and brother of Murugan. He is worshipped as the remover of obstacles and Lord of new beginnings. Ganesha is a very popular figure in Indian art. The typical iconography of Ganesha always shows him with elephant head, big belly, holding a broken tusk in one hand and a delicacy in the other,  an axe or goad in the third hand and a noose in the fourth hand, on his mount Mouse.

This decorated wooden Kavadi panel will enhance the charm of any wall.