Ancient Palm size murtis of Ganesha can be found in the open
in many places in Canacona Taluka in Goa .
The murtis are 4 inches by 4 inches in size and fits in the palm. Elders of the
villages where the murtis are found claim that they are guardian murtis and
extol people to keep water clean. Most of these murtis are more than 900 years
old and people believe it to be of the Chalukya Badami period.
The four-handed murti holds a battle axe in the right upper
hand and the lower left hand holds a bowl with 'modak' (sweet). The trunk is
shown almost touching the modak. The materials in the two other hands are not
clearly visible. The belly spots Nagband' jewellery with cobra design.
Times of India reports
Manguesh Deshpande, former superintending archaeologist at the state archaeology department believes that the statue may have been privately worshipped. "Any statue of less than eleven fingers (angulas) in size is worshipped privately," he said. But the Ganesha idol is actually outside the Vetal temple in a tribal-dominated village, and this needs some explanation. Villagers say there is no tradition of worshipping the statue. "But, at the time of any traditional function or utsav, neveth (prasad) is placed near the idol," a villager said.
A Ganesha statue of a similar size can be seen near a spring in the midst of a habitation in Morlem, Sattari. "The statues were installed with a specific purpose of motivating people to keep the water body clean," a source said. The villagers are opposed to any idea of reinstallation or alteration of their heritage assets.