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Wooden figure of the Hindu god Ganesh.

He is usually depicted as a four-armed man with the head of an elephant and one tusk. He has the features of an elephant, i.e. wisdom and strength. He has four hands, one of which usually holds a tray of sweets. The idol's attributes are: a book - a symbol of wisdom, a tusk, an ax and a trumpet, i.e. phallic symbols (denoting creative power), its large belly is a sign of prosperity, and its mount, which is a rat, is a sign of cunning. A mythological story explains why Ganesha has the head of an elephant: Parvati (his mother) went to bathe in a pond and asked her son to keep an eye on her clothes, but while she was taking a bath, jealous Shiva came, who thought that the boy was spying on the goddess, and cut off his head. Distraught, Parvati asked Shiva to save her son. Shiva did not have such power, but he promised that he would attach the head of the first creature that came out of the forest - it was an elephant. Ganesha is the son of Parvati. The goddess made him from earwax and breathed life into him.