"Ganesha - The Obstacle Remover"  is my latest collection of artwork. Ganesha is my favourite among the deities  of Hinduism. He is very popular in the western and the southern India. 

Ganesha— the elephant-deity has an elephantine countenance with a curved trunk and big ears, and a huge pot-bellied body of a human being. He is the Lord of success and destroyer of evils and obstacles. He is also worshiped as the god of education, knowledge, wisdom and wealth. He is honored at the beginning of rituals and ceremonies.

Ganesha's head symbolizes the Atman or the soul, which is the ultimate supreme reality of human existence, and his human body signifies Maya or the earthly existence of human beings. The elephant head denotes wisdom and its trunk represents Om, the sound symbol of cosmic reality.

This particular series of three paintings totally inspired by the Lord Ganesha took a long time to finish. Not so because of the painting in itself, but more so because I could not spend enough time regularly. But, I am glad I finished it!! All three of them are done in Mixed Media in my trade mark style of embossed lines in Oils on the wrapped canvases.

"Content"  has Violet Ganesha standing at the patio looking very content. Lord Ganesha is also called Lambodara (pot belly, hanging belly), hence the exaggerated belly. Ganesha's belly represents the brahmanda, ( the entire universe ) and its illusory quality to encompass everything good or bad, the past, present, and the future. I have used clay embossed outline for the brown pillars with intricate patterns and the white pink-purple flowers hanging from the roof. I wanted an earthy background, so used Yellow Ocher with a dash of Sap Green enhancing the earthy tone. Ganesha is embossed with clay for a dimensional feel and stands about 1 cm above the painting in some places. Painted in violet, (to satisfy my creative impulse..) he is wearing Green Dhoti the traditional Indian outfit for men. The green upper body cloth has rich pattern for the borders. The embossed jewelry is colored in metallic acrylics.  The yellow halo around his head represents his supremacy.

"Blessing" has Yellow Green Ganesha standing and blessing. The simple pink background with the embossed spiral outlines mystifies the entire painting. Ganesha is embossed with clay for a dimensional feel and stands about 1 cm above the painting in some places. Painted in yellow green for a double shade effect  he is wearing blue-violet Dhoti the traditional Indian outfit for men. The blue upper body cloth has rich pattern for the  borders. The embossed jewelry is colored in metallic acrylics. The yellow halo around his head represents his supremacy, and the orange modhakam in his right hand is his favorite delicacy.

"Serene" has Pink Green Ganesha in a meditative pose. I have used clay embossed outline for the  multicolored background which also represents the chaos around him. Ganesha is embossed with clay for a dimensional feel and stands about 1 cm above the painting in some places. Painted in pink-green for a double shade effect, he is wearing red Dhoti the traditional Indian outfit for men. The yellow upper body cloth has rich pattern on blue for the  borders.The embossed jewelery is colored in metallic acrylics. The yellow halo around his head represents his supremacy, and the Modhakam in his right hand is his favorite delicacy.

Hope you enjoyed them. Would love to hear your comments below.