A popular claim says the elephant-headed god is evidence of head-transplant surgery in antiquity.
In the Purāṇic story, Śiva replaces Gaṇeśa's severed head with an elephant's; some claim this records real surgical knowledge.
— Śiva Purāṇa (Gaṇeśa's birth); modern overclaim
(Claimed) organ / head transplantation.
A popular claim that doesn't hold up — here's the honest story.
We address this directly because it is often repeated in public. It is a sacred myth about divine power, not a medical record — there is no surgical text, technique, or evidence of head transplantation (which remains impossible today).
Honouring the story means reading it as theology, not biology. Conflating the two actually cheapens both the myth and the very real surgical heritage of Suśruta.