Ganesha's mouse, perhaps a symbol of his keen, quick intelligence

Each of the figures is accompanied by an animal, and are sometimes even seen riding around on them! In our images being created in Oriel 1, Kartikeya is sitting on a peacock, and Durga has one foot on a lion, the other figures have small animals next to them: Sarasvati has her swan, Lakshmi an owl, and Ganesha a little mouse.

There are many different stories behind the symbolism of the mouse, some say that the mouse represents wisdom or the intellect as, owing to its size, it is able to enter places that no one else can and it also teaches us to remain alert. I have also read that the fire god Agni was once terrified of Shiva's rage and turned into a mouse so he could hide underground! Do you know of any other stories behind the mouse or any of the other animals? Please let me know!

Each week I will be uploading new pictures of my plants - as they grow. Please e-mail your own plant pictures to me.

Weekly updates:

23/03/09 Throughout this week all of my daffodils have opened. They are all standing proudly in my garden, the tallest measures 35cms in height. Many more of you have reported your daffodil flowers opening this week and finally your crocuses have opened too! See the and to compare other schools with your own. This is the last week for recording temperatures and rainfall - so please send in all your records before the Easter holidays then I will send you your certificates on the 5th of April.

17/03/09 My 1st daffodil opened today!

13/03/09 This week my daffodils have grown lots. I'm sure they will flower over this weekend! So far, the findings this year are very interesting. All schools are reporting that daffodils are coming before the crocus - which is very unusual and has not happened before in this study! Also, all our flowers seem to be around three weeks later than usual, which has also been reported by the Really Welsh farmers! But why?...

The cold weather this winter has meant that our bulbs were exposed to frost. Frost can slow down a flower's development or even damage a flower and prevent it from flowering. Bulbs in pots are particularly vulnerable.

But why did most of the crocus come later than the daffodil? In short, the frost had a more damaging affect on the crocus because the bulbs are smaller and not so tough. The frost also came at a bad time for the crocus when it was almost ready to flower.

04/03/09 Lots of my crocus flowers have appeared and my daffodils are beggining to shoot up too. I took some close-ups of the crocus flowers today because they look so pretty - covered in dew drops.

I've studied the average flowering dates for this year and see that in many schools it is the daffodils that have opened 1st. The crocus have only opened in two places - my garden and Burton School. Normally, it is the crocus that open 1st? Take a look at the and for yourself.

23/02/09 Today, my 1st crocus flower opened! Lots of other flowers have shot up too - but only one has actually opened. In the sunlight you can see through the petals to see the orange anthers inside. My daffodils have grown quite a lot this week, the tallest is now 18cms tall. See the - some daffodils have opened at Oakfield Primary School in Cardiff too! Have any of your flowers opened yet?

19/02/09 Hi Bulb buddies! Welcome back from your half term break. In my garden, things have really started to grow. What was a tiny green bud, has transformed into a beautiful purple flower. It's still not open yet - when it looks like this you should send your flowering date to the immmediately. Then a flower symbol will appear above your school on the and the average flowering date for your school will appear on the .

In , in Pembrokeshire one of their daffodils has already opened - unsually before the crocus. I'm going to be watching my Crocus everyday now so i can catch the flowering - I hope you can do the same!

10/02/09 The shoots are now 2-3cm tall. This is small for this time of year - because we have had such a cold spring. At this time last year the crocus flowers had already opened and the daffodils were 11cms tall!

Which shoot is which? The daffodil shoots have smooth curved, light green tips. They are much broader than the crocus tips. The crocus shoots have narrow pointed shoots that normally appear in clusters of five. They have dark green edges - making them look slightly stripey.

03/02/09 Snow everywhere today, even a bit in Cardiff! The shoots haven't grown much this week and now they are hidden under a blanket of snow.

Come back next week to see how much the plants grow.

Professor Plant

Using a heat lamp to dry the clay

Securing the neck of Sarasvati's swan to the body with string as the clay dries

All the figures now have faces! Sarasvati has her swan, and Kartikeya's peacock is also taking shape.

Dibyendu Dey and Purnendu Dey have been working hard in Oriel 1 and a great deal has been accomplished in the last couple of days. The hay structures of Durga (along with the lion she is sitting on and the buffalo demon), Ganesh, Lakshmi, Sarasvati and Kartikeya are pretty much complete and Sarasvati even has the beginnings of her musical instrument! ('m not sure at the moment if it's a sitar or a veena, but will let you know!)

Visitors to the gallery have been enjoying watching the artists at work and Anuradha Roma Choudhury, the interpreter for the project, is on hand to chat to everyone about the work and the iconography behind it. Make sure you come by and have a look!

The artist Dibyendu Dey weaving wire and hay to form a head

The Goddess Durga, her lion, and the buffalo demon formed from straw and wire

I have now been informed that 'Ganesh' should be spelt with 'Ganesha', so please accept my apologies!

Ganesha has four arms and the head of an elephant, with those big elephant ears enabling him to hear the needs of his people. The multiple arms demonstrate Ganesha's immense power and ability to perform several acts at the same time. This deity brings good luck and clears all obstacles and is therefore worshipped before important events and rituals.

If you look at the picture below you will see that Dibyendu Dey and Purnendu Dey have now covered the straw structure with clay and the image of Ganesha can be clearly seen. He is looking truly impressive!