Ganesha (aka Ganesh) is the elephant-headed Hindu deity.
Perhaps the best-loved of Hindu gods, Ganesha is the “remover of obstacles”, and is associated with good fortune, wisdom and prosperity.
Q: what on earth is he doing in a decidedly “touristic” street in a southern Italian seaport/resort city?
A: He has unwittingly become “the brand identity” for a boutique which sells overpriced, allegedly-chic apparel.
Q2: is there even the slightest genuine connection to Hinduism, or to India, or to wisdom?
A: no. (aside – possibly – from some garments having been made by underpaid Indians)
I took the photo in Reggio, Calabria on 18 September, 2023.
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Musical bonus, with actual connection to Ganesha
Ali Akbar Khan (1922 – 2009) was perhaps the greatest exponent of the sarod – a fretless, wire-strung lute which is a highly esteemed instrument in Hindustani erudite/“classical” music.
Arguably, he was the most influential 20th century Indian “classical” musician, globally – even more so, I think, than Ravi Shankar.
His American friend and occasional colleague John Handy (born 1933) is, primarily, a jazz musician and master of the alto saxophone.
In 1975 they made one of the first “Indojazz fusion” albums; it is still one of remarkably few really successful examples, musically.
Their Karuna Supreme also involved tabla genius Zakir Hussain (1951 – 2024)
It opened with a piece co-authored by the co-leaders.
Note: this definitely is “Ganesha’s Jubilee Dance”; the YouTuber misidentified the track.