This is a Thanjavur reverse glass painting of Gajalakshmi, meaning Lakshmi with elephants (gaja). This is one of the most significant aspects of the goddess Lakshmi. In this aspect, the goddess is depicted flanked on both sides by white elephants. She is shown seated in a yogic posture in a beautiful lotus, and has four arms - the upper two holding lotuses and the lower two in Abhayamudra (a gesture of reassurance, safety) and Varadamudra (gesture of granting of wishes). The elephants flanking her are shown pouring water from pots they hold in their trunks over her. This is probably referring to the puranic texts that said when Lakshmi was born ‘elephants of the skies taking up their pure waters in vases of gold, poured them over the goddess, the queen of the universal world’. Above the elephants are two attendants fanning the goddess. This aspect of Lakshmi is representative of prosperity, good luck, and abundance.
