The earliest Ganesha images are without a vahana (mount/vehicle).

The earliest Ganesha images are without a vahana (mount/vehicle). Of the eight incarnations of Ganesha described in the Mudgala Purana, Ganesha uses a mouse in five of them, a lion in his incarnation as Vakratunda, a peacock in his incarnation as Vikata, and Shesha, the divine serpent, in his incarnation as Vighnaraja.

Mohotkata uses a lion, Mayuresavara uses a peacock, Dhumraketu uses a horse, and Gajanana uses a mouse, in the four incarnations of Ganesha listed in the Ganesha Purana. Jain depictions of Ganesha show his vahana variously as a mouse, elephant, tortoise, ram, or peacock.

Ganesha is often shown riding on or attended by a mouse, shrew or rat. The rat began to appear as the principal vehicle in sculptures of Ganesha in central and western India during the 7th century; the rat was always placed close to his feet. The mouse as a mount first appears in written sources in the Matsya Purana and later in the Brahmananda Purana and Ganesha Purana, where Ganesha uses it as his vehicle in his last incarnation. The names Musakavahana (mouse-mount) and Akhuketana (rat-banner) appear in the Ganesha Sahasranama.

The Mudgala Purana mentions Heramba Ganapati as one of the thirty-two names of Ganesha. The Skanda Purana lists that Heramba Vinayaka as one of the 56 Vinayakas in the vicinity of Varanasi. Heramba is also used as an epithet of Ganesha in the Ganesha Purana. The Brahma vaivarta Purana explains the meaning of Heramba ; the syllable he denotes helplessness or weakness, while ramba is protection of the weak, to save them from harm; thus Heramba means the "Protector of the weak".

Heramba rides his vahana, a mighty lion. The lion, represents the deity's royalty and fierce nature. The lion is said to be inherited from his mother Parvati, who often rides it. Though the lion primarily appears as the vahana of this aspect, the usual vahana of Ganesha - a rat or a mouse - may also be included in the depiction. In an 11th–13th-century depiction in Odisha, the rat is depicted on a pedestal besides the seated Heramba. In a depiction in Bhaktapur, Nepal; Heramba stands on two rats. In Nepal, Heramba is generally depicted with a lion as well as a rat. ✨🐘🕉👁🐅🌀🎨✨