The Hindu deity Ganesha

The amiable, elephant-headed Ganesha is a son, as is Skanda, of Shiva and Parvati. Ganesha here holds several of his most important symbolic implements. In his lower left hand is the dish of sweets he loves to feed on. In the lower right is a piece of his own tusk. He is said to have broken it off to use as a tool for copying down the great epic Mahabharata when its author first recited it.