As reveals the Vaishnava ‘tilaka’ mark on the Lakshmi’s forehead, and ‘tri-punda’, on that of the elephant god Ganesha, they represent two different sectarian lines : Vaishnava and Shaiva, the tradition of representing them together, one complementing the other : Lakshmi bestowing with abundance and Ganesha removing all obstacles likely to come in the way, is among the most celebrated ones that the people of the land have been adhering to now for ages. The Vaishnavites, who revere Lakshmi as the primordial female power, the Devi, or one of her aspects, perceive the unity of Lakshmi and Ganesha as the son assisting the mother in sustaining the universe; and the Shaivites, though they too see a motherly aspect in Lakshmi, take the unity of the two as one of the manifestations of Ganesha in which Lakshmi stands for wisdom and achievements, the functions that Riddhi and Siddhi, the consorts of Ganesha, accomplish. It is thus that the form of Ganesha with Riddhi and Siddhi is also designated in his iconographic tradition as Lakshmi-Ganesha. Lakshmi-Ganesha is believed to bestow success, prosperity, abundance and good crop.
Strange as it sounds, though Vishnu’s consort, for bestowing abundance, riches and good crop, Lakshmi is worshipped with Ganesha, not with Lord Vishnu. As the most celebrated Ganesha hymn has it : 'Shree Ganapate namah', it is by worshipping Ganesha that Lakshmi comes one's way. As the hymn literally means, it offers ‘salutation to ‘Shree Ganapati’, that is, besides offering 'salutations to Ganapati’ it assures that such salutations are offered first to ‘Shree’, Lakshmi’s another name, who precedes Ganapati in the hymn. This most popular Ganapati ‘mantra’ for invoking Ganesha is also the most effective one for invoking Lakshmi for in it the salutations to Lakshmi precede those offered to Ganapati, and thus, Lakshmi, her bliss, riches and prosperity, reach the devotee even before invocation to Ganesha is accomplished.
A masterpiece by Vidyadevi, one of the most celebrated painters from Mithila in Bihar, the painting is one of the finest examples of the Madhubani art idiom rendered using typical traditional iconography : a round face, large eyes with tiny black-parts, shapeless small nose, an undefined neck and an anatomy with symmetrically conceived arms and other parts, technique of rendering details and the scheme of colours used in basic and brighter tints. The painting has been rendered using red, orange, pinkish yellow, black, green and blue in deep tones. It wisely manipulates the light pinkish off-white tint of canvas for rendering the faces of the divinities, stripes of their ensembles and the background. Emerged from ocean-churning riding a lotus, in Lakshmi’s iconography lotus has become her regular seat. Contrarily, Lord Ganesha is seated on a ‘chowki’ with bells-like legs. Both divinities are seated in ‘lalitasana’ and are wearing the tight-fitted striped ‘pajamas’ type lower garments. Both are putting on moderately sized but richly inlaid crowns, though while the figure of Ganesha also has a halo around it, Lakshmi’s figure does not have any. Characteristic feature of Lakshmi’s iconography, a pair of elephants with lotuses in their trunks are flanking on her upper side. The background has been covered with beautifully flowering creepers and with a floral border.
This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr. Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of literature and is the author of numerous books on Indian art and culture. Dr. Daljeet is the curator of the Miniature Painting Gallery, National Museum, New Delhi. They have both collaborated together on a number of books.
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