Ganesha The Affable Elephant Headed God

Ganesha is a hindu deity or God with human form but the head of a friendly  elephant.

   Ganesh is the power of the Supreme being He removes obstacles and brings success.

This hymn or shrotra is from the Puranas and is recited to remove all troubles and attain freedom. Ganah in Sanskrit means "multitude" Isa means "Lord" so Ganesha means "The Lord of All Beings" Ganesha is the first son of Lord Shiva, Shiva is the Supreme reality so The son of shiva symbolises one who has realised The Reality or is said to be The Lord of all Beings Pranamya shirasaa devam gaurii putram vinaayakam Bhaktaa vaasam smarenha nityam aayuh kaama artha siddhaye So, the story is that Ganesha was born as a divine twist of fate. Parvati the wife of Lord Shiva was disappointed that the guards she appointed out of Lord Shiva's army failed to stop Shiva from barging into her private chambers. Parvati decided to have someone who would be entirely her own and place no one above her. Once, when Shiva was away, Parvati wanted someone to guard the door while she bathed. From her body and water from the Ganges she created a boy who is Lord Ganesha. This makes Parvati and Ganga his mothers. Having created the figure, Parvati infused life into him and told him to ensure that nobody entered her room while she bathed. Lord Shiva soon came in and was stopped by Lord Ganesha. This enraged Shiva and He beheaded the boy. Parvati was peeved to such an extent that she asked Goddess Durga and Goddess Kali to destroy everything and everyone. She demanded that Ganesha be brought back to life and Shiva sought to assuage her, by promising to bring the boy to life but his head could not be found in the battlefield. Lord Shiva sent his army to collect the head of first living being, who was sleeping with head facing north.  That turned out to be an elephant. Shiva put the elephant head on to the boy's shoulders. Shiva then breathed life into the boy. As both had given life to the boy he really became their son. Parvati was still distressed to see their poor ugly son. Shiva could not bear to see his wife unhappy so he made her a promise that Ganesh would have the power to answer prayer. Parvati knew that nothing could be a success unless her son was present, and because of this he is one of the most popular Gods. (To be continued)