Ganesa

Ganesa, the most popular among the Brahmanic gods of the second rank, the special deity of prudence, invoked at the commencement of every enterprise, and with whose name every book begins (namo Ganeśāya, 'honour to Ganesa'). He is the son of Siva by Parvati, and the leader of his father's train. He is represented with an elephant's head, riding upon a rat, and his figure is found in almost all temples, and also in houses where he has taken the place of the Vedic Agni as domestic guardian.—GANESA is also the name of the author of a 19th-century commentary to the Līngapurāna (Bombay, 1858).