Gita Mehta at the Rubin Museum of Art

Meet Eternal Ganesha author Gita Mehta at the Rubin Museum of Art
in New York on September 13th.

ETERNAL GANESHA author Gita Mehta and Rubin Museum of Art Kathryn Selig Brown will discuss the most beloved deity in the Hindu pantheon, Ganesha, bringer of wealth, well-being, and luck at a book signing on September 13th, 2006, held at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City.

In India, Ganesha's image is ubiquitous. It appears everywhere: on village walls, in cyber cafes, on handbags and commercial packaging, on the sides of trucks and rickshaws, in textiles and neon, and in the most sacred precincts of ancient temples. Ganesha's delightful physical form "an elephant-headed, large-bellied body of a man with multiple arms, girdled by a serpent and riding a rat" enchants the faithful and even those of other religions. Here, Gita Mehta explores the rich religious and cultural meanings of the beloved Ganesha in a lavishly illustrated volume that will appeal not only to Hindus, but all who are touched by the talismanic power of his image and the generous spirit of his attributes.

Gita Mehta is the author of several bestselling books, including Karma Cola, Raj, A River Sutra, and Snakes and Ladders . Mehta was born in Delhi, into a well-known political family. Her father, Biju Patnaik, was a freedom-fighter and a longtime political leader of Orissa before his death in 1997. She was educated in India and at Cambridge, where she met her husband, Ajai Singh "Sonny" Mehta who is currently the president of Alfred Knopf. She lives in New York, London and Delhi, and spends at least three months of every year in India.

Dr. Kathryn Selig Brown is Curator at the Rubin Museum of Art. She has curated more than a dozen exhibitions of South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Himalayan art for institutions including Asia Society, The Harn Museum, and The
Katonah Museum of Art. She also taught South and Southeast Asian art history at New York University for eight years and is the author of numerous articles and catalogues including Eternal Presence: Handprints and Footprints in
Buddhist art. She received her doctorate in Tibetan art from the University of Michigan.

Wednesday, September 13 at 7 p.m.
Tix: $18 (10% discount for SAJA Members)
at RUBIN MUSEUM OF ART
150 WEST 17 ST.
NEW YORK CITY
www.rmanyc.org - 212.620.5000 ext. 344

Tickets include admission to the Museum galleries before the program, as well as the wine reception and book signing that follow.