Hibiscus flowers are sacred to Ganesh, the elephant god - the god of wisdom, who destroys all obstacles and grants the realization of all goals.

The Puranas contain two different stories as to how Ganapati happened to have an elephants head. Once Parvati pointed out to Ganapati the planet Saturn, and his head got burned down due to the ocular power of Saturn. According to another story Ganapati's head was replaced with that of an elephant. The other story is more interesting.

When once Siva tried to enter the room where Parvati had gone to take her bath clad in a single clothing Ganapati prevented Siva from doing so. Siva, enraged at the obstruction made by Ganapati, cut off his head, and when his anger cooled he replaced Ganapati's lost head with that of an elephant.