Ganesha
|
Mouse as vahana
| Ganesha is often shown riding on, or attended by, a mouse. Martin-Dubost says that in central and western India the rat began to appear as the principal vehicle in sculptures of Gaṇeśa in the 7th century A.D., always placing the rat close to his feet. The mouse as a mount is mentioned for the first time in written sources in the Matsya Purana, and later in the Brahmananda Purana and in the Ganesha Purana where Ganesha uses it as his vehicle only in his last incarnation. The Ganapati Atharvashirsa includes a meditation verse on Ganesha that describes the mouse appearing on his flag. The names Mūṣakavāhana ("Mouse-mount") and Ākhuketana ("Rat-banner") appear in the Ganesha Sahasranama | 
Ganesha riding on his mouse. Note the red flowers offered by the devotees. A sculpture at the Vaidyeshwara temple at Talakkadu, Karnataka, India
|