| Location: - Kailash Mountains, Himalayas (Lord Shiva’s abode) | |
| Characters: - | |
| Lord Shiva | (The transformer) |
| Goddess Parvati | (Goddess of love and devotion) |
| Nandi | (Shiva’s Bull) |
| Ganesha | (young lad modelled by Parvati) |
One fine day Goddess Parvati wished to have bath. In absence of attendants she wanted to have somebody who can guard her. She ordered Nandi to guard her house and restrict the entry of anyone in the house. Lord Shiva returned to Kailash Mountain and found Nandi guarding the entrance of the house. Nandi thereby strictly following the instruction laid by Goddess Parvati did not allow Shiva to enter the house. Lord Shiva giving a smile told Nandi not to act childish. Shiva said “Be practical Nandi, I am Parvati’s husband. Shiva being Nandi master, Nandi could not disregard his master’s order and allowed him to enter the house. On returning back, Parvati got bit annoyed as to how Nandi allowed entrance despite her strict instructions. Parvati was bit convinced with the reason that Nandi could not restrict his master’s entry.
After his episode, Goddess Parvati thought to create her own Gana who would just go by her instructions (just as Nandi was to Lord Shiva). She at the time of bath using the sandalwood paste (applied to cleanse body) created an image of young boy and infused life into it. This is how Ganesha, loyal son of Parvati was born using the dust of Parvati’s body.