This lamp has a leaf-shaped bowl for burning oil, a snake-skin patterned handle terminating in a five-headed cobra, and a pitcher-form body for storing oil, typically mustard oil. A figure of Ganesh (or Ganesha) would have been attached at the base of the leafshaped bowl but is missing from this lamp. The elephant-headed Ganesh is regarded as the protector who will remove obstacles to a successful outcome. Skulls encircling the lamp show the power of Ganesh’s protection. Lamps are used in rituals for important events including birth, marriage, death, New Year’s celebrations, promotions, passing an examination, or surviving an accident. In Kathmandu’s Newar culture, the household’s oldest female member lights the lamp and serves auspicious food and wine to the person being honored as well as others in attendance.