The boys could hardly wait and quickly ran toward their grandma. They sat down beside her and looked up at her with their big curious eyes. Karan and Arjun were ready to hear the stories of Lord Ganesh.

The grandma started by saying, “First let me tell you the story of how Lord Ganesh got his elephant head.”

A long time ago, there lived a god named Shiva and his wife Parvati. They had two sons named Ganesh and Skanda. They were a happy family who lived on top of the great Kailash Mountain.

The snow on top of the mountains was sparkling like diamonds and it was the most beautiful shade of powder white. It was a cold morning and nature was as calm as ever. The trees were not swaying back and forth, the flowers were not standing proud, and wind was nowhere to be found. Lord Shiva’s absence was felt all throughout the mountains. He had been away fighting a war but would be returning home today.

Parvati was gleaming with happiness and wanted to make sure she looked beautiful when Lord Shiva returned back home. She decided to take a bath and ordered her servants to fill her bath with beautiful jasmine flowers and fragrant sandalwood oil.

“Baby Ganesh,” she called out to her son. As he came running toward her he leaped into her arms and gave her a hug. She sat him down and said, “I am going to take a bath and I want you to guard the entrance. You must not let anyone enter our house while I am bathing,” said Parvati.

Ganesh looked up at her and smiled. He said, “Yes, of course. I am your son and I will make sure to guard you as you wish.”

Parvati left to take her bath and little Ganesh stood outside, being very watchful and alert.

Meanwhile Lord Shiva was making his way back home after a grueling battle. Lord Shiva was exhausted and his mind was weak from continuous fighting. As he came upon Mount Kailash he saw Ganesha standing guard.

As Lord Shiva approached Ganesha, Ganesha shouted “STOP!” “You may not enter, as mother is bathing and has asked me to keep guard.” Lord Shiva asked to enter again but Ganesha would not move. This angered Shiva and he warned Ganesha to let him enter, otherwise he would have to pay the consequences.

Ganesha simply replied by stating, “Do with me what you will, but I have made a promise to my mother and I will not break it.”

Lord Shiva and Ganesha started fighting and Shiva lost his temper. Anger built up inside Lord Shiva and all of a sudden he released his rage. Without thinking, he took his Trishul, which was Shiva's trident, and threw it at Ganesha.

Ganesha screamed and Parvati immediately ran outside for the fear that something had happened to her baby Ganesh. She saw Shiva standing there looking shocked and then she saw the headless body of Ganesha. She screamed in horror and could not believe what had happened. 

Shiva approached her and said, “I am deeply sorry; it was not my intention to cut off Ganesha’s head. I have just come back from war and my mind is not right. Forgive me, my sweet Parvati, for I have committed a grave mistake.”

Parvati stood up and her eyes were burning with rage. She looked at Shiva and seemed as if she was ready to attack him. Seeing the pain and anger in Parvati’s eyes, Shiva quickly added, “I promise to fix this. Please give me some time and I will make sure to have Ganesha back in your arms.”

Upon hearing this Parvati backed away, took one more look at the body lying on the floor, and ran inside the house crying.

Lord Shiva summoned his servants at once and told them to bring the head of the first animal they found. The servants quickly returned back to Lord Shiva with the head of an elephant.

Lord Shiva then took the head of the elephant and placed it atop Ganesha’s body. He said a few mantras to bring Ganesha back to life. As Lord Shiva spoke the mantras, the mountain began to shake and the dirt began to swirl around Ganesha’s body. All of a sudden everything became calm again and when the dirt settled, Ganesha, with his new head, came walking toward his father.

Lord Shiva bowed down to him and said, “My son, please forgive me. I was tired and angry from war and I lashed out at you when you were only trying to protect your mother.”

Ganesha accepted his father’s apology and they joined in a warm embrace. Parvati had run outside to see what had happened when she saw Ganesha alive and with his new head. She quickly ran to Ganesha and picked him up in her arms. She thanked Shiva for giving her back her son.

Both Shiva and Parvati blessed Ganesha, and Shiva crowned Ganesh as a god. He told Ganesha, “From now, if people begin any work with your name, that work will succeed without any problems.”   

The grandma concluded her story by telling the boys, “So you see, this is how Ganeshji got the head of the elephant and also why he is known as the Lord of Success and the Remover of all obstacles.”

The boys were sitting still with their mouths hanging open. They were in awe of the amazing story their grandma had just told them.

“More, grandma, please tell us one more story….pleeeeeeeeeeease!” the boys shouted.

The grandma laughed and said, “Alright, we have time for one more, but then it’s off to bed for the both of you! Let me tell you the story of how Ganesha lost his tusk.”

Author’s Note: There are many different versions out there of how Ganesha got the head of an elephant. I tried to combine some versions I had read with the story that my grandma used to tell me when I was younger. Some versions actually said that Parvati created Ganesha out of sandalwood paste, dirt, and her skin to serve as a guard for her. Then, when Shiva returns, he does not recognize the boy standing guard and therefore cuts off his head. I decided not to tell that story. I decided to put my own spin on it and made it so that he was not in his right mind and extremely tired from war so he just lashed out in anger and cut off Ganesha’s head. Also some versions state that there was a demon who had the head of an elephant and was coming toward the mountain to cause harm. Shiva used his trident to cut off his head and then gave that elephant head to his son. I went with what I remembered my grandma telling me. In her version of this story she told me that Shiva ordered his servants to go get the head of the first animal they found. From here I plan to tell the story of how Ganesha lost one tusk. The stories I plan to tell won’t necessarily connect together but will be about Lord Ganesh and his life.