Panaji, Aug 19 - An art exhibition by renowned installation artist Subodh Kerkar with god Ganesh as its theme will now be held for two days instead of the planned 12 days, that too under police protection, after it was opposed by Hindu rightwing groups.

'We are going ahead with the exhibition. We have limited it to two days only though. We will not cow down to these forces,' Kerkar, a former member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), told reporters at the North Goa police head quarters in Porvorim.

Kerkar said he had requested police protection for the event, which is to be inaugurated by noted author Amitav Ghosh Thursday at the artist's gallery in Calangute. Rightwing Hindu groups have objected to the show, saying it portrays Ganesh in an obscene manner and therefore denigrates their religion.

Kerkar's paintings and a green installation featuring a large idol of lord Ganesh amidst heaps of garbage - highlighting the garbage woes of the state - are to feature in the exhibition.

Asked if he would creatively interpret the deities of other religions, Kerkar said another Goan artist Francis Souza had already drawn hundreds of images of Jesus in different forms.

'And when it comes to Paigambar (a reference to Allah), I do not know what he looks like.