This oil-and-wick lamp featuring Ganesha is from Nepal, and it is about 14.5 cm in height.

It is very simple in design. A circular broad base to give stability, on top of which is an inverted lotus leading to the shaft. The band in the middle breaks the monotony and provides support if one wants to carry the lamp. The receptacle for oil is supported by the shaft. At the far end of the receptacle is a standing Ganesha with four arms. The standing Ganesha is surrounded by a prabhavali.

The receptacle is decorated with two triangular projections and the designs on the projection is obscured by soot/oil deposit.

Such lamps are normally kept in house altars or in a shrine. This probably was in a wayside shrine for a very long time, definitely for many decades.

Lamps used in worship are worshipped as well, as Hindu’s see lamps as a sign of Lakshmi.  Here, in this case with Ganesha at the top, is another example.

It is not unusual for me to clean the Vigrahas I acquire to bring out the iconographic features. But not this one. There is something beautiful about this lamp. It has been in use for a very long time and has retained the marks of usage and history.

May be it is trying to tell us its story.