The lines that define the subject are rudimental. The same are filled in with solid colours drawn out of a limited but expressive colour palette. A flash of pastel basics meets the eye at first glance - blues, oranges, blacks, and yellows. Such an earthy finish is explained by the technique that lies behind Madhubani paintings: drawing implements fashioned from broken twigs and dyes extracted from organic materials found around the house (such as soot from the angithi and ochre of the lamp). The Lord dances with His weight pressing down on Apasmara, the very image of ignorance.

The flaying locks of the chaturbhujadhari Lord make for an aureole. He is flanked by a nadi-serpent to His right, a gorgeous green creeper to His left. In the foreground are a rudrayantra with the chant ‘Om Namah Shivaya’ (Lord Shiva invocation) painted underneath the same and a wrathful roopa of the victorious Lord.