He is the cute little and loving son of  Maa Parvati and Lord Shiva. The God to be worshipped first in all rituals. The God having the power to finish all the troubles and hindrances along with all sorrows.  But at the same time the loving son of Maa Parvati is also one among the most powerful deities of Hindu Mythology. The Lord having a body of human and head of  elephant along with a big belly may look little  mysterious  when sitting on the rat,  but at the same time he is also the lord to grant luck and to grant happiness. Sometimes the mysterious idol of Lord Ganesh creates curiosity but there is also a beautiful story behind the mysterious figure of this great God.

THE STORY
 
It happened that Lord Ganesh took birth when Lord Shiva was not present at the Kailash    hills. And after his birth the little Ganesh asked mother Parvati to assign some tasks to him. Again Mother Parvati on those times was also interested to go for meditation and worships. So she was with the desire that during the worships nobody should disturb her. So she ordered Lord Ganesh to watch the south door of their house and without her order not to allow anybody to inside. Ordering this the loving mother left for her works. During that time Lord Shiva returned home and wanted to enter into the house. But as Lord Ganesh was the watching the door so he restricted him from entering inside the house. Again Lord Shiva was not aware of it that Lord  Ganesh was his son. So quarrels and fights started between them. During the war Lord Shiva for many times got defamed by Lord Ganesha’s Powers. So finally with his anger at its apex he cut the head of Lord Ganesha and entered inside. After knowing everything from Lord Shiva mother Parvati started weeping for her loving son but very soon her tears took the form of severe anger and she told that if her son will  not become alive again then she will destroy the whole world. The ferociousness of the divine mother made all afraid and finally lord Bramha reached there to make her calm but the mother told it that if her son will not become alive again then she will destroy the world. Lord Bramha then asked lord Shiva to bring the head and body of the Lord Ganesh. But till that time the head was not there and was stolen and eaten by a demon. That is why Lord Shiva ordered his servants to bring a head for his son to make him alive again. The servants went and returned with the head of an elephant. Lord Bramha joined the head with the body of Lord Ganesh   and made him alive again. After that the mother left her ferociousness and all the Lords including the mother and lord Shiva told it that Lord Ganapati will be the first worshipped God and he can grant luck and wealth to people again those who will worship the Lord they will cross all the obstacles and fears easily they will not face any problem. Thus from that day the lord got the head of an elephant.

ETYMOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION

This may be the mythological story part of the description of lord Ganesh but there is also the etymological description of Lord Ganesh. Which is as follows:
Head of Elephant- The symbol of cleverness
Curved trunk- Ability of differentiating (Praveda Bichara)
The snake at waist- Symbol of cosmic energy
Broken teeth- Knowledge
Big Ears- The ability of differentiating between reality and fallacy.
Human Body- Best experience
Big Belly- The ability of tolerating all good and bad experiences
One feet touching earth- The symbol of concentration
Four hands are the symbols of mind, thought, intellectuality, and ego
Rope- the medium of uniting the soul with supreme soul
Lotus- the symbol of gradual development
Rat- the symbol of desire
Food- the symbol of wealth
So etymologically Lord Ganesha is a purely symbolically God. And his Birth Day that is Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated as the day to worship him with all fan and fare. So on this context the total Orissa has gone mad with the devotion of worshipping Binayaka. So on this context at Bhubaneswar at Unit-4, janapath areas, Ganganagar, Indradhanu Market, and at temples of Unit-1 and CRP square and at many other areas the Mandapas have gone ready for worshipping Lord Ganesha. Many cultural programs are also going to be arranged on this occasion but before saying anything more let’s say

Om Sri Mahaganapataye Namah