The Story of Ganesha's Birth

Parvati, alone while Shiva was away in meditation, made a boy from the turmeric paste of her own body and gave him life. She asked him to guard the door while she bathed, and to let no one in.

When Shiva returned, the boy — not knowing him — refused him entry. In the anger that followed, the boy was beheaded. Parvati’s grief shook the world, and Shiva promised to restore him: the first head found, that of an elephant, was given to the boy, and he was named Ganesha, lord of Shiva’s ganas, first to be worshipped.