Thanjavur paintings are characterized by rich and vivid colors, simple iconic composition, glittering gold foils overlaid on delicate but extensive gesso work and inlay of glass beads and pieces or very rarely precious and semi-precious gems.

In this Thanjavur Painting, Lord Ganapati is sitting elegantly in a throne with modak in one hand and abhayahastham in other and paasam and angusam in other two hands. His throne is differently decorated with YAZHI (A Very ancient animal.with lion face and bird body).The backside mandapam is specifically designed with his vahana Mushak. In this particular painting, the mandap at the backside of Ganpati is done in three layers, so that the designs are shown very clearly. These designs are very intricate.

The CANVAS for a Thanjavur painting is usually a plank of wood (originally wood of the Jackfruit tree was used, now its plywood) over which a layer of cloth is pasted with Arabic gum. The cloth is then evenly coated with a paste of limestone and a binding medium and let to dry it.