Early Morning Ganesha Home-poojan

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The boy-deity Ganesha is the most adorable of the Hindu pantheon. Because of His childlike love for laddoos and propensity to offer boons to His devotees, He is revered widely across the subcontinent. Naturally, Ganesha poojan is a very popular ritual in homes as well as in public. While the mass appeal of Ganesha Chaturthi celebrations in Maharshtra is well-known, this painting is an example of the former. A young Indian lady makes an offering of freshly plucked bel leaves to her dear lord. The time is early morning, as given away by the redness of the skies indicating the oncoming dawn. She has just stepped out of her bath: her braided tresses are limp with wetness, and she has not even draped her aanchal. She has immediately proceeded to gather the puja thali and kamandalu that she has placed next to her, complete with diya (handheld ghee lamp), vermillion, turmeric, tulsi leaves (again, freshly plucked), and a bunch of His favourite sweetmeats. Note the sheer devotion in the haze that she directs at Him with half-shut eyes, the supple dewiness of her skin, and the ample pearls and jewels that set it off.

The lifelike beauty of her icon is unmistakable. The chaturbhuja (four-armed) deity is in the same asana as His devotee, etched against a characteristically carved wood panel. He has the pot belly and the dhoti, ornaments, and crown usual to His iconography. His vahana, the mouse, sits next to its master with its forepaws in the namaskaram mudra. More laddoes, their colour a rich tempting gold, have been placed at His feet by the devotee together with some bel leaves. Bel leaves also adorn the crown of the puja panel. The tree next to which she performs the puja is so laden with pristine blooms and soft, green buds that its branches lean and almost touch the icon. The most unusual aspect of this watercolour is how the deft brushstrokes of the skies give way to the loamy Indian earth.