Siddhi Vinayak - The Bestower of Wishes - Lord Ganesha Vintage Indian Oleograph - Raja Ravi Varma Press

Ganapati or Ganesha, the lord of hosts and god of wisdom, who is also called Vighnesvara (“the lord presiding over obstacles”), has an obese human body topped by the head of an elephant. Worshiped throughout Hinduism, he is invoked at the beginning of any enterprise, for his is the power to remove obstacles but also to place them in the way of success. His shape is a symbol charged with meaning on many levels. His huge belly, containing the world, is surmounted by his elephant head, signifying the world beyond, the metaphysical reality. The head is maimed; it has only one tusk, thus signifying the power of the number one, whence all numbers have their beginning.

Raja Ravi Varma was an Indian painter and artist, considered as one of the greatest painters in the history of Indian art. Varma is known for his amazing paintings, which revolve mainly around the Puranas and the great Indian epics - Mahabharata and Ramayana.

Ravi Varma is one of the few painters who managed to accomplish a beautiful union of Indian traditions with the techniques of European academic art.