Palm leaf wall hanging, "Ganesha the Son of Siwa"

Nengah Dika portrays Ganesha on a lontar (palm leaf) scroll in celebration of one of Bali's classic art forms. The lontar leaf has specific characteristics that enabled the ancient Balinese to develop a particular form of literature and painting. Dika selects dry lontar leaves, which he engraves with a fine chisel. Detailed and ornate, this portrait of Ganesha is admirable. Includes two bamboo rods for display.

The sacred man-elephant, Ganesha is the son of Siwa and Durga, and has the power to keep under control the occult forces that bring disaster upon humankind. In his four arms he holds a chain symbolizing the eternal quality of knowledge, a lontar palm book representing the source of accumulated knowledge, an axe and lash as the symbol to protect the world from evil and disaster.