Lord Ganesh is regarded as the son of Goddess Parvati rather than Lord Shiva.
 According to popular legend, Parvati wanted a guard for the house, particularly in the absence of Shiva. She created an image of a boy with clay and oil, and infused life into him. She was pleased with the appearance of the boy that she regarded him as her son. On one occasion she asked the boy to guard the house while she went for a bath. Around this time, Shiva returned home. The young man asked Shiva what he wanted at the house. Losing his temper Shiva blew the young man's head to pieces.
When Parvati saw what had happened, she cried and wailed that all the Gods and Goddesses came to Mount Kailash. Coming to know what had happened, they tried to collect the pieces of head. However, nobody could collect the pieces of the head. Meanwhile Lord Vishnu hurried to find a replacement in the shape of an elephant's head, which was grafted on the child's neck. Parvati was not happy with Vishnu's act. To console her, Lord Vishnu promised to make her son the head of the Vinayaka or minor deities, and decided that he would be worshipped first in all rituals as the remover of all obstacles, Vigneswara, thus pacifying the Goddess.
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