The Mandala symbolizes life and the universe. In Madhubani, we create many circular designs, and my Mandala is composed of concentric circles, which I use to represent wholeness, unity, and the cycle of life. My favorite parts of this painting are the lotuses in the corners, which frame the Mandala, and the peacock in the center. This painting incorporates all that I had learned about Madhubani art from the beginning, including birds, fish, flowers, vines, and plants that represent life on Earth. 

For my 8th Madhubani project, I painted Lord Ganesha meditating on a lotus in the forest, with the moon god, Chandra, praying to him in the top right corner. The story behind this scene explains the origin of the moon's phases in Hindu mythology. After Ganesha indulged in sweets during his birthday feast, he fell off his mouse, Mooshik, who was scared upon seeing a snake. Chandra laughed at Ganesha's plight, which angered him into cursing Chandra to lose his brilliance. But after seeing the havoc on earth, Ganesha, to ease the curse, made the moon wax and wane, never fully disappearing. The most challenging part of the painting was writing the Ganesha slokam in the sky, which I found tedious but rewarding. My favorite elements of the painting were the Ganesha, slokam, lotus, and Mooshik.