Ganesha has a wealth of legends and parables which explain his importance, the extent of his power and the reason for his popularity. A most interesting story behind the Ganesha concept is that he was the scribe who wrote the Mahabharata. Sage Vyasa, the author of this epic, was advised by Brahma to ask Ganesha to be the scribe to whom he could dictate the epic in verse form.
Seated against a bolster is Ganesha, represented with four arms. The two upper arms hold an axe and a padma (lotus) respectively. The lower two hands are busy writing the prayer of invocation. He wears a yellow lower garment and a red scarf. He adorns a beautiful crown on his head and a sign of the trident on his forehead which represents his three-fold power, namely love, wisdom, and action. His eyebrows are raised in concentration and eyes very attentive. His trunk is curved inwards. Before him lies a bowl of fruit as Ganesha, dweller in the forest, enjoys all the earth's bounties. In the kumbh lies a coconut, symbol of the ego, soft and sweet inside, hard and rough outside. When we break a coconut to Ganesha, we break the ego's hold on us. On Ganesha's left waits mushka (the mouse), his preferred mount, which enables him to travel to every nook and cranny.
On both sides of the arch are symbols of swastika, a sign of luck and auspiciousness. Its crooked arms show how life is filled with change and indirection. For Hindus, the swastika is a lucky cross associated with the good fortunes given by Lord Ganesha. Beyond the arch are plants, hills and turbulently colored skies which hold a secondary status to this beautifully painted icon of Shri Ganesha.
This description by Renu Rana.
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