There are many stories associated to the birth of Lord Ganesha, the most popular being the one from the Siva Puran.
It's believed that once Goddess Parvati created an idol of a boy with turmeric and infused life into it. Ganesha was instructed by His mother to stand guard while she went for a bath. Ganesha was standing guard when Lord Shiva arrived. Unknown to each other, the father and son had a fight, which resulted in Lord Shiva shearing off Ganesha’s head with his ‘Trishul’.
When Parvati saw Her son’s dead body, She demanded Lord Shiva to bring Him back to life. Lord Shiva then replaced Ganesha's head with an elephant’s.
Since then Ganesha is called ‘Ganapathi’ meaning ‘head of the celestial army’ and is worshiped by all before any auspicious activity.

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