Goddess Parvati was the wife of Shiva, the God of destruction and sister to Vishnu, the God of preservation. Parvati lived on the beautiful Mount Kailash with her husband.

Once many years after her marriage, her friends came to meet her. Nandi the bull was guarding the gates. He was Lord Shiva’s vehicle.

One of her friends asked Parvati, “How are you? On our arrival, we noticed Nandi guarding the entrance to the palace. Why do you not have your own attendant?”

Parvati replied, “Nandi is my Gana as well.”

Ganas were the attendants of Lord Shiva living in Mount Kailash. Nandi and Bringhi were two of them. Bringhi was a sage and a big devotee of Lord Shiva.

To this, the friends responded, “No, Devi. Nandi, Bhringi are all Lord Shiva’s Ganas. Their loyalty will always be to Lord Shiva and not you. Isn’t it reasonable to have your attendants instead of Lord Shiva’s?”

Her friends’ words made Parvati think about the situation, but she did not do anything for a long time.

One day, Parvati called Nandi and said, “I am going to have a bath so please ensure you do not allow anyone into my chamber.”

Nandi bowed and said, “Yes, Devi.”

After some time, Shiva came to meet Parvati. As he was about to enter Parvati’s chambers, Nandi said, “My Lord! Devi Parvati has forbidden me from allowing anyone into her quarters.”

Shiva asked, “Are you stopping me from entering my own home, Nandi?”

Nandi replied, “No, my Lord.” Bowing, Nandi let Shiva enter Parvati’s chambers.

Parvati, who was getting ready, noticed Lord Shiva enter and said, “Why did Nandi allow you to enter my rooms when I specifically asked him not to?”

Amused, Lord Shiva replied, “Do you think my Ganas will refuse entry into my own home, Parvati?”

Angered, Parvati kept quiet. Once alone, she thought, “My friends were right. It is high time I have my own attendant who will do as I desire.”

Parvati then created a person¹ who was handsome and strong. Dressing him with silk clothes and gold ornaments, Parvati admired her creation and said, “You are my own son. You will listen to me and no one else.”

The person Parvati created was Ganesha.

Ganesha said, “Mother, what are your orders?”

Parvati replied, “Stand at the gates of the palace and work as the gatekeeper. Without my permission, do not allow anyone to enter the palace.”

Parvati gave a hard stick to Ganesha, who then went to the entrance guarding the doors.

Soon, Lord Shiva appeared. He was shocked to see a handsome young man stopping him. Shiva ignored Ganesha and was about to enter the door when Ganesha hit Shiva with the stick.

“Who are you? Do you know who I am? How dare you stop me from entering my own home?” roared Shiva.

Ignoring, Ganesha again hit Shiva with a stick.

Finally, infuriated, Shiva told his Ganas, “Find out who this person is.”

Shiva then went some distance and stood waiting until his Ganas resolved the issue.

Nandi addressed Ganesha and asked, “Who are you? If you value your life, go away.”

Ganesha replied, “Who are you, people? If you value your life, go away.”

Nandi replied, “We are Lord Shiva’s Ganas. The palace you are guarding belongs to Lord Shiva. You
are young and ignorant, so we will not kill you. But let us pass.”

Ganesha was confused. “What do I do now? Mother has ordered me not to allow anyone.”

Meanwhile, Parvati, having heard the commotion, sent one of her maids to pass the message to
Ganesha. “Do not allow anyone in no matter who or what the reason.”

Ganesha was relieved with the message and continued doing his duty.

Addressing the Ganas, he said, “I am Ganesha, son of Parvati. My mother has given me instructions to guard these doors, and guard them I will. You will not enter these doors by force.”

When the Ganas realised there was no way in, they went back to Shiva, who ordered, “You are the Ganas. You are famed for your heroism and power. Are you frightened of one young lad?”

Ashamed, the Ganas went to Ganesha, intent on battle.

Nandi caught hold of Ganesha’s left leg while Bhringi caught hold of his right leg. Before they could pull him down, Ganesha used his stick and hit both their heads.

“Oh, Ouch!” they screamed in pain.

All the Ganas began attacking Ganesha together. Ganesha hit some of them on their head, some on their hands and some on their spine. Knees fractured, skull cracked, they ran helter-skelter fearing for their lives and fell at Lord Shiva’s feet.

“Lord! This lad is not ordinary. He treated us like a toy and broken our bodies,” they cried.

Meanwhile, Devarishi Narada noticed the plight of the Ganas. He urged Lord Brahma, the creator, Lord Vishnu, and the devas to support Lord Shiva.

Lord Brahma disguised himself and went to Ganesha, asking to be let in. But Ganesha lifted his stick and was about to strike Brahma. Frightened, Brahma ran back to Shiva.

Lord Shiva said, “Ganesha is mighty. It will require our collective effort to defeat him.”

Shiva’s elder son Lord Kumara², Indra³ and other devas bravely attacked Ganesha.

Devi Parvati, knowing her son was outnumbered, created two forms to help Ganesha in the battle. The two forms called Sakti were Durga and Kali. Ganesha, with the added power of the two Saktis, completely crushed Kumara and the devas.

Lord Shiva boiled with anger. Then, addressing Lord Vishnu, he said, “I think it is up to us to defeat this boy now. So let us together fight and kill him.”

Shiva and Vishnu went to fight Ganesha. Seeing the two Gods, the Saktis Kali and Durga, merged their powers with Ganesha. Shiva used his Trishul or Trident and his bow Pinaka to kill Ganesha, but he was unsuccessful.

Shiva told Vishnu, “This boy is so powerful that we can only kill him by deceit. So you attack him, and while he is occupied, I will attack him from the other side.”

First, Vishnu used his Sudarshan Chakra to break Ganesha’s stick. While Ganesha was distracted, Shiva used his Trishul and chopped Ganesha’s head.

Victorious, the Ganas and Devas danced with happiness.

When Parvati came to know what happened to her son, she was furious. So she created thousands of Saktis intent on destroying all the Gods. Fearing her wrath, the Gods tried to appease Parvati.

Parvati said, “If you want to pacify me, bring back my son. Once you get him back to life, you have to give him an immeasurable position among Gods.”

The Gods discussed among themselves, and finally, Shiva said to his Ganas, “Go north and bring the head of the first being you meet. Fit the head to Ganesha body, and he will come back to life.”

The first being the Ganas saw after going north was a single-tusked elephant. They brought back the head of the elephant and attached it to Ganesha’s body. Then, after chanting some mantras and sprinkling holy water, Ganesha came back to life.

Shiva blessed Ganesha and said, “Ganesha is my son. Henceforth, Ganesha will be the leader of the Ganas⁴. People will pray to him as a remover of obstacles. He will be worshipped across the three worlds first before any of us gets worshipped. If he is not worshipped, none of us can be worshipped either.”

Blessing Ganesha, all the Gods left. Parvati was very pleased that her son was given such an important position among Gods. Shiva and Parvati lived happily with their two sons in Kailash.

Author’s note:

The story of Ganesha’s birth and how he received an elephant’s head differs across versions.
According to one version, Lord Sani glances at Ganesha and burns his head to ashes. Parvati approached Brahma for help. Brahma asked her to replace the head with the head of the first living being that she comes across. The first animal Parvati came across was an elephant, and hence Ganesha has an elephant’s head.

¹ It is believed that Parvati created Ganesha from the dirt or the flakes from the skin
² Kumara or Karthikeya is another son of Shiva and Parvati. In some accounts, he is the older brother of Ganesha while in others he is the younger brother of Ganesha. According to Shiv purana, Karthikeya is elder to Ganesha.
³ Indra is the King of Devas.
⁴ Ganesha is also called Ganapati which means Chief or leader of the Ganas