Why does Lord Ganesh have an Elephant Head?

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Why does Lord Ganesh have an Elephant Head?
Introduction
Ganesh is one of the highly worshiped gods among the Hindu pantheon. The large followership of Genesh can be attributed to its lack of affiliations. A visit to India may not be considered complete with one not having seen a portrait of lord Ganesh. Ganesh is famous for being the god that aid in removal of obstacles, patron of arts as well as sciences. Believers also attest to obtaining intellect and wisdom from Ganesh. It is in the 4th and the 5th centuries that Genesh is said to have developed into a distinct deity (National Centre for the Performing Arts 60). It is during this Gupta period that Ganesh was formally included in the deities of Smartism. The identification of Ganesh to date is attributed to Ganapatya who elevated Genesh to the level of a supreme deity. Scriptures that are dedicated to the god Genesh are Mudgala Purana, Ganapati Atharvashirsa and Ganesha purana. The popularity of Genesh is not limited only to the problems that are solved through his worship, but the uniqueness with which Ganesh came into existence. The most stinging question to date about lord Ganesh is elephant head with which he is identified (Shukla and Talwar 77). A lot of theories have been formulated in trying to explain the origin of the elephant head with which lord Ganesh is identified. This paper tries to explain why lord Ganesh has an elephant head. To answer the question, the paper takes an analysis of the myths that have been formulated in an attempt to answer the same.
The Family
Ganesh in the Hindu pantheon is known as member of the family of Shiva and Parvati. The birth of Ganesh is associated with a lot of myths just as his head. There are versions claiming that Ganesh was created by Shiva, others claim that Ganesh was created by Parvati. There are myths that also the birth of Ganesh to both Parvati and Shiva. Finally, there exists a myth that claims the birth of Ganesh to have been mysterious. In this mystery myth, it is believed that Shiva and Parvati only came to discover Ganesh after noticing his unique capabilities. The mysteries around Ganesh seem not to end only on his birth and his head. Many times, the family of Ganesh has attracted a lot of debates as well National (Centre for the Performing Arts 70).
Most myths indicate that Skanda, kartikeya is brother to Ganesh. The problem arises in the order of their births. Believers from North India assert that that, Skanda is the elder brother. They believe that before Ganesh emerged, Skanda had already achieved a lot in the martial deity. They further argue that the emergence of Ganesh coincided with the fall of Skanda. In South India however, it is believed that Ganesh was the first born. The superiority of lord Ganesh is fairly exploited to explain why Skanda could not make it being the first child in that family. Once there was a contest of power between Ganesh and Skanda. The challenge was to see who could manage circumambulating the three worlds in the shortest period. As Skanda went around the three worlds, Ganesh is said to have remained back at home circumambulating Parvati and Shiva. His reason for not going around the three worlds was that his parents represented the three worlds already. Consequently, Ganesh won the fruit of knowledge which was supposed to be the pricing for the challenge (National Centre for the Performing Arts 75). It is believed that it is from this challenges that people started regarding lord Ganesh so highly than other lords. It is also through this challenge that a lot of myths have been formulated to help answering the question about his elephant head.
The Elephant Head
Popularly known as “gaja,” the elephant head has been the most unique identification a lord has ever had in the Hindu pantheon. Many theories have therefore been formulated courtesy of “gaja”. In most cases, similar anecdotes try explaining both his birth and the origin of the elephant head. The same stories further shade lights on the popularity that Ganesh has gained. The elephant head is interpreted to mean most attributes of the elephant such as discriminative power, intelligence, fidelity, and most of the attributes of the elephant. According to the National Centre for the Performing Arts, the elephant head is also said to have big ears. It is through these ears that Ganesh denotes wisdom as well as the ability to listen wide to people who seek help from him (67).
Shiva’s Decapitation
Amongst all the stories around Ganesh’s elephant head, the version obtained from Shiva Purana has proven more popular. Most believers have given in to the version by Shiva. Here, a story is told of goddess Parvati who was left at home when his husband Shiva went away. In the meantime, Parvati wanted to have a bath. Parvati never enjoyed disturbances in times when she was bathing, even from Shiva. To avoid any disturbances, Parvati commanded Nandi (Shiva’s bull) to guard the entry as she was bathing. Nandi gave in to the request and so promised to guard the entry away from anybody as Parvati had wished. Unfortunately, Shiva came back home early- when Parvati was not yet through. In her hierarchy of loyalty, Nandi gave in to request by Shiva than it did to those of Parvati. Shiva was consequently let in. Parvti however did not enjoy the move (America Asiatic Association 230). First, by letting Shiva in, it meant that Parvati could not get the peace that she really longed for during her time in the bathing room. Secondly, it showed Parvati that she had no one as loyal to her commands as Nandi was to Shiva. Something had to be done.
To counter the loyalty that Shiva gained from Nandi, Prvati decided to create one for her own. Using the paste from her body after the bath, Parvati created Ganesh. She breathed life into him and thus the origin of Ganesh. In her subsequent bath, Parvati put Ganesh to guard the entry. Shiva was away. Coincidentally, Shiva came back home while Parvati having a bath yet. As predicted, Ganesh could not let in Shiva. Shiva was surprised by this strange boy standing at his door and telling him away from his own house. It is at this point that Shiva ordered his soldiers to kill Ganesh. The fight ensued but the soldiers were defeated. This prompted Shiva to join the war himself. Nobody expected such a reaction as up to date, Shiva is considered as one of the calmest gods (White 98). However, bearing the intensity of the situation, Shiva had to join the fight and save the situation.
White argues that Shiva exploited his fury to slash out Ganesh’s head. All this time, Shiva had noticed that Ganesh was not an ordinary boy. Striking him hard was therefore the only available option if he (Shiva) was to succeed in killing him and eventually getting into his residence. Ganesh was killed by one severe strike on the head by Shiva. Parvati learnt about the death of Ganesh and got marred in fury that she decided to wipe out the entire creation. Lord Brahma (the creator) pleaded with Parvati to reconsider and overlook her decision. Parvati gave in to the requests by Lord Brahma but under two conditions. The first condition was to bring Ganesh back to life (78). The second condition demanded that Ganesh be worshipped before other gods. Brahma obliged to the conditions.
All these waited Shiva to cool down his hunger. Upon regaining conscience, Shiva ordered Brahma to go out and fetch the head of the very first creature he would he would cross with its head leaning towards North. Brahma did as he was instructed and came back with the head of an elephant. Shiva fused the fetched head of the elephant to Ganesh body. Shiva then breathed life into the body and Ganesh was reborn. It is at this point that Shiva promised to treat Ganesh as his own son. On top of being a son to Shiva, Genesh gained the status of being the principal amongst the gods. The entirety of the ganas would also be led by Ganesh.
Gajasura and Shiva
“The Gajasura and Shiva” is another myth that has extensively been used to explain the origin of the elephant head. It is believed that there existed an asura with the head of an elephant. This asura was known as Gajasura. Gajasura was experiencing tapas. Shiva was so amazed by Gajasura that he promised to give him everything that he (Gajasura)...