Lord Ganesha - A Hindu Deity

Among the many deities worshiped by the Hindus, Lord Ganesha has in some ways pride of place. It is not that he is considered to be superior to the great Gods Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu, or the Goddesses, but he has a special place in the affection or people and no worship of any kind or of any other deity can begin without an initial worship to Ganesha, among whose many names is Vighneshwara, remover of obstacles.
With the rise in importance of the Ganpatya cult for whom Ganapati was the supreme God, this deity was absorbed into Hinduism as the son of Shiva and Parvati.
The assimilation was very slow as Ganapati was a folk deity of various pre-Vedic and Tantric sects. However the Ganapatya sect was very powerful and widespread and the great philosopher, Adi Shankara himself gave them importance this sect as one of the six systems of Hindu worship.
The absorption of Ganesha was achieved through legends and stories in the various Puranas which abound in stories of Ganesha. Although most of the Puranas and Up Puranas have incidents from the life of Ganesha, the main legends are in the Shiva Purana, Linga Purana, Brahmavaivarta Purana, Skanda Purana, Varaaha Purana, Matsya Purana and Padma Purana and in the two Upa Puranas, the Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana.
These legends refer not only to the birth of Ganesha and his achievements and conquests but also to teh miracles by which he acquired his elephant head.