He is flanked by a pair of peacocks, vahana of His brother the Lord Karttika. His own vahana, the humble black mouse, is picking at an offering of laddoos in the foreground. A red-silk manuscript of the Mahabharata lies next to the pooja-tray, in keeping with the symmetry of which there is a basket of fruit-prasadam to the opposite of the painting. A gorgeous red halo sets off the regal ekdanta (single-tusked) elephantine head of the Lord. Note the ample proportion of silks and pearls on His princely person and the all-encompassing gaze that characterises that Shaivite tattooed brow.