Gaṇeśa or Ganesh the elephant-headed God, son of Lord Shiva and Devi Parvati is popularly worshipped as a remover of obstacles and often acknowledged before initating new ventures.
He also symbolizes wisdom, understanding, intelligence and a patron of letters and of learning. He is the legendary scribe who, using his commonly held broken tusk, wrote down parts of the Mahabharata Epic.