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Ganesha's new head of an elephant being attached to the body. Source: Wikipedia
People have told many different origin stories about me. These stories have been passed down from generation to generation by storytelling traditions and everyone likes to make their own little twists to them, kind of like the game telephone.
Some stories say I was made out of a piece of material, like muslin, and my dad, Lord Shiva, animated me. Other stories say that dad's laughter created me, which I feel is a little weird because he was the one to sever my head... Anyway, my favorite origin story and the one that makes the most sense to me was the one where my mom, Goddess Parvati, created me.
My mom yearned for a son and someone who was really loyal to her. She needed someone to guard the door of the washroom. So, one day, before taking her bath, she got some turmeric and with her godly magic, she made the paste of turmeric and water and created me! Somehow, an inanimate, simple paste of a common household spice was the origin of my becoming. I had the form of a young boy, around the age of 12 years. I had shoulder length hair which was tied up in a bun. My face resembled my beautiful mother's, and she has me dressed in gold armour, with a crown atop my head.
While I was guarding the door so Mom could take a peaceful bath, a godly being and a huge army of soldiers showed up at the door, unexpectedly. I had no idea who the godly being was, nor did he know who I was. However, my mother ordered me to let no one through the door, so I obeyed her and did not let him or his army through.
The godly being all of a sudden got really angry and told his army to attack me! I panicked and starting defending myself. As I got more and more angry, I there was a beam of light that emitted from the palms of my hands. As I pointed, the beams toward a soldier, they would fall to the ground. One by one, I knocked down the army men until it was only me and the godly being. I was surprised to find out my powers, and it shocked me that I was able to defeat the army without even breaking a sweat. It felt like I was born and destined to do this, which probably was my mother's intentions, since she created me to protect her.
"I am Lord Shiva! How dare you defeat my army! I will get through this door, and a puny little thing like you can't stop me!" ordered Shiva.
Before I had the chance to come up with a comeback, I felt a sharp pain hitting my neck, and that was all I remembered.
My mother finally heard the shouting and screaming of my father over her loud singing in the shower. She quickly came out of the washroom to see what was going on. She saw the bloodied battleground in front of her and shrieked in horror.
"What have you done to our son!?!" cried Parvati.
She quickly picked up my lifeless body and tried to reattach my head, which Shiva severed with his sword. However, no amount of power would put me back together.
Shiva, realizing what he had done, began to panic.
"Don't worry, my dear wife! I will find the first being who is facing North and I will bring its head to you so that we can get our back!" reassured Shiva.
He looked up to the sky and called out to his brother, Brahma. When he arrived in his flaming chariot, Shiva hopped on and they ventured out to find a replacement head, leaving a weeping Parvati cradling her son's body.
When Brahma and Shiva returned, they told Goddess Parvati that the first being that they encountered facing North was a baby elephant.
Shiva fetched the head from the chariot and carefully positioned it on the neck of my lifeless body. Brahma then used his hands to hold my new head in place and chanted a mantra for around 20 minutes, and my life was restored!
It felt like I took the longest nap of my very short life! When I awoke, I was held by my mother, who looked very concerned and worried. I felt groggy and I did not know where I was. I suddenly remembered my duty to watch over my mother as she took her bath and by the looks of the situation, I obviously failed.
"My dear Ganesha, how are you feeling?" asked Parvati.
As I was still regaining consciousness, my gazing eyes locked with the godly being who had hurt me. I panicked.
Mom noticed the obvious fear in my eyes and quickly explained to me that the godly being was actually Lord Shiva, my father. He did not know I existed and felt that I was a threat to her, so he decided to destroy me.
Dad crouched down and made eye contact with me.
"I am very sorry for doing such a horrible thing to you," Shiva said apologetically. "I will make this up to you, I promise!"
Dad and Lord Brahma stepped aside and discussed a few things while Mom was comforting and rocking me.
They returned after a while and made some promises to me.
"My dear son, again, I am truly sorry for doing such damage to you. In return we will assign you as 'the leader of all Ganas,' which means you will be the leader of all beings," announced Shiva. "Additionally, you will be worshipped first, before all of the other Gods in existence. You will be the God of new beginnings!"
I was pretty happy about that and quickly got up from my mom's arms and went to give a great big hug to dad. As I walked, I wobbled a bit, as it would take time getting used to the extra weight of my new head.
We walked out of our home and watched the sunset, as dad explained to me my new duties as a God.
Author's Note: In my version, I gave Ganesha powers that emitted from the palms of his hands. I also changed it where instead of his severed head being lost, it was present, but physically impossible to reattach it, even with the powers from Shiva and Brahma. Originally, Goddess Parvati gave two conditions for forgiving Shiva for what he had done. The first condition was to find a replacement head for Ganesha, so Shiva searched for one. The first one he found that faced north, was one of an elephant. The second condition from Parvati was for Shiva to recognize Ganesha as leader of all Ganas and that he must be worshipped first, before any of the other Gods. In my version, I made it where Shiva and Brahma made these conditions into promises to Ganesha. The purpose of this storybook (site) is to inform others in a fun way about Hinduism its many Gods and Goddesses while I am learning more about my culture and heritage. Parvati created Ganesha out of turmeric paste. Turmeric is a spice used quite frequently in an Indian household. It has many uses. For culinary purposes, it is used as a food color and flavor. In Ayurvedic medicine, it is used to cleanse wounds, and can even help with recovery from an illness like the cold or flu.
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