Ganesh is one of the most important gods of Hinduism, because almost all Hindu sects worship him to some extent. He is described with having four hands (because two hands aren't enough and three hands would probably throw off his balance) and two feet. He also has a large stomach, but a dead giveaway is his head, to be precise his elephant's head. According to various myths Ganesh's story has many different beginnings. In the most popular one he is the son of Shiva and Parvati. Others will have you believe that Ganesh was Parvat's handiwork (some stories have Shiva helping her). And why stop the myths about Ganesh's coming to be here? There are still some stories left to share! According to one myth Ganesh appeared mysteriously, and Shiva and Parvat just happened to stumble upon Ganesh. These beginnings are, of course, perfectly good in their own right, but for me, another beginning is more intriguing. Sadly it has gained less popularity than the previous stories. According to this myth, Shiva asks Parvat to watch over the holy text of Punyaka Vrata for only just a year. If she's up to this task, it would satisfy Vishnu. In fact Vishnu would be so glad about it, that he would give Parvat a son. Because Parvat is a goddess then obviously she manages to look over the holy text for a year, and she is granted a son from Vishnu himself. Now the story gets really interesting! When everyone meets to rejoice over Ganesh's birth, God Shanti refuses to look at the newborn. Parvat, being a proud mother, wants everyone to look at his beautiful baby boy with four hands. When she sees Shanti looking in another direction she makes Shanti look at her son. Although Shanti tried to explain that it would be fatal, but Parvat paid no heed to Shanti's ramblings. So Shanti looked, and the baby's head came right off! Parvat was so distraught that she couldn't believe what happened, and stood motionless, as did others. Vishnu was also very surprised by this ordeal, but kept his cool, and went looking for a new head. Now one would think that Ganesh without a head is dead, but gods are gods for a reason: they have powers to do and be whatever they want. Literally losing a head is a child's play to a god... Except for an arrow, that would kill them, like happened to Krishna. Now getting back on track. A young elephant noticed a butterfly on a nearby flower. He went to take a closer look at it. His mother had warned him to not wander too far from others, but the elephant thought it wasn't too far and he would be back before anyone was the wiser. So he looked to his left, to his right: nothing suspicious. So he happily waddled towards the butterfly. But the butterfly flied away seeing a big creature creeping towards her. At the same time Vishnu was desperately looking for a head for his beloved newborn. He saw a butterfly, but his head would not do. Now that the butterfly had taken flight his eyes caught a grey creature in a proximity. "That will do, that will do nicely," he thought to himself. He sneaked towards the elephant, who turned his back on him. The elephant saw the butterfly flying and started to think: "I wander how it's like to fly like that? To go where..." He never managed to finish his thought for Vishnu had taken his head clear off. Vishnu returned with it and placed it on Ganesh, reviving Ganesh. I'll narrate one more story today. Ganesh made a bet with another goddess Karthikeya that the one who travels the world first can get married first. Karthikeya jumped on his peacock without hesitation and set off, but Ganesh moved calmly into his parents' house. He hugged his parents, saying that hugging them seven times is equal with seven travels around the world. And he was declared the winner. I think this story tells us that even if you travel the world, you won't find anyone more important than the ones who raised you.
According to myths, Ganesh is a busy deity. He eliminates all obstacles! Obstacles that hinder our success. To do this, he often has the help of a mouse. In addition, he patronizes art and various sciences. If this is not enough then he is also the deity of wisdom and intellect. Not to mention his importance as a deity of beginnings, so he is praised at the beginning of rites and ceremonies.
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