Ganesha can be spelled as Ganesh or Ganesa and is also called Ganapati. He is one God who is very easy to identify due to his elephant head. God Ganesha is considered to be the Obstacles Remover, the Lord of the Obstacles or the Lord of Beginnings (Vighnesha or Vighneshvara) deva of wisdom and intellect and the patron of sciences and arts. He is also invoked during writing as the Patron of Letters and is honored in every ritual. There are several anecdotes and texts that explain how he was born.

He was born as a deity around the 4th or 5th century CE in the Gupta Period. He became very popular in a short period of time and is considered one of the five main deities in Hindu from the 9th century. Ganapatya is a sect that was born during that time and which considered Ganesha the supreme deity. Three scriptures are dedicated to Ganesha: either the Atharvashirsa Ganapati or the Mudgala Purana plus the Ganesha Purana.

His always was represented with the elephant head. Puranic myths tell that Heramba-Ganapati which was one of his initial forms had five elephant heads. Other myths suggest that he was born with the elephant head while others say he later acquired the head. The most popular story suggests that while he was born having a human head, he got the elephant head after he interfered between Parvati and Shiva. Angry, Shiva replaced his head with an elephant head.

In another story they say after the birth of Ganesha, Parvati who was his mother showed him to the rest of the gods and that Shani (Saturn – who had evil eyes) caused his head to burn. Vishnu rescued the little boy by replacing his burned head with an elephant head. Others say that God Shiva created Ganesha and that he gave him the protruding belly and elephant head.