White Marble Elephant Head

There are many anecdotes of Ganesha. Ganesha's elephant head makes him easy to identify.[1] He is worshipped as the lord of beginnings and as the lord of removing obstacles,[2] the patron of arts and sciences, and the god of intellect and wisdom.[3] In his survey of Ganesha's rise to prominence in Sanskrit literature, Ludo Rocher notes that: Above all, one cannot help being struck by the fact that the numerous stories surrounding Gaṇeśa concentrate on an unexpectedly limited number of incidents. These incidents are mainly three: his birth and parenthood, his elephant head, and his single tusk. Other incidents are touched on in the texts, but to a far lesser extent.History about the birth of Ganesha are found in the later Puranas, composed from about 600 CE onwards. References to Ganesha in the earlier Puranas, such as the Vayu and Brahmanda Puranas are considered to be later interpolations made during the 7th to 10th centuries.