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The Epical Story of the Indian Elephants By Tripti Pandey,Tourism and Culture Consultant

In the Pink City of Jaipur one does encounter the captive elephants every off and on. An elephant ride is a cherished experience for any visitor to the city. Talking of elephants brings back many childhood memories. I recall one day we saw an elephant with his mahout passing by our locality. We were playing and suddenly all kids got after the mahout to give them a ride as till then none of us had ridden one. He gave in and gave us a short ride, which of course took long! Our joy, however , was short lived as we had forgotten to take the permission from home and got a scolding on the first ever elephant ride! The Maharajas of my city have had a long association with the elephants . In their two traditional festivals Gangauar and Teej the ceremonial procession was lead by an elephant and that tradition is continued till date. Rejoicing in travel writing one day I visited the colony of Mahouts in the walled city. It was interesting to find that Jaipurs founder Maharaja Jai Singh had provided for a special space in his city for the clan of elephant keepers and their elephants. With the merger of the princely states it became an elephantine task to maintain elephants so the advent of travel business extended the needed support to the domesticated elephants. But it is not just the regal past here the elephants are venerated too. In the Indian languages an elephant is referred by many names Gaj, Hathi ,Gajanan, Vinayak and Hasti to mention a few. I remember the first elephant story I had heard was the bed time story told by my mother. Like those bed time stories the elephant story too had a moral lesson. The story connects the elephants with the Indian mythology for it features in the sacred book Shrimad Bhagwat inscribed by the sage VedVyas. Gajendra was the King of Elephants .One very hot day he decided to cool off in a pond with his family members. Suddenly, a crocodile caught hold of him. Seeing death his family members left .The elephant prayed to the God to save him from not just death but ignorance . He was saved by the almighty. Moral of the story is that to purify mind as at the time of the death and not to fear as the God will receive you. A hymn known as Gajendramoksha Shlok invokes the divine in distress. Another childhood story deals with the war between the Gods and the Devils when the ocean was churned by both to find the nectar. Fourteen treasures were found after the churning including Airawat or the white elephant. The Gods won and Indra, the lord of rains, took the white elephant as his mount. Airawat, the name means the one who knits and binds clouds. No wonder, our mother used to tell us that Bhagwan Indra has come when the clouds covered the sky! Yet another aspect of the imagery of that time is the terracotta figurine known as Gaj Laxmi, worshipped on the day of the festival Diwali as well as the pictorial image that

shows Laxmi the Goddess of prosperity with two elephants showering water with trunks. It is years later that I discovered the story around her as I am working on my book to reflect on the cultural significance of elephants in this part of the world. She is also considered to be the goddess of animal wealth. However, among the pantheon of thirty-three million Gods and Goddesses the first one to be invoked is the Lord Ganesh whom the world knows as the Elephant Headed God! How Ganeshji got his elephant head was also the story that I first heard from my mother. Lord Shiva was asked by his consort Parvati to infuse life in the boy who she had created to guard the entrance when she was bathing. As Shiva was refused entry by the strange boy ,his fury lead him to behead the boy. He then directed his aides to get the head of the first living being and they found an elephant. Beyond the legend, Ganeshs elephant head has a great significance. His head denotes infinite wisdom as well as Atman or the soul, the trunk represents Om or the cosmic reality ,his flappy ears to ward off ill talks, unlike all other animals his tongue does not loll out to refrain from speaking without thinking, Ganesh is shown with one tooth symbolizing the ability to sacrifice and his large eyes to see even the weakest to be powerful for the elephants see objects bigger than their size. No wonder in Kerala in monsoon they have a ceremony where for worshipping live image of Ganesh an elephant is fed by the devotees in a ritual called Gaj Darshanam. I had absolutely no idea that I would be a part of the creative team which visualized the first ever Elephant Festival in Jaipur to inculcate the value of the elephant treasure and as I compared the show year after year I became the narrator of the cultural bond India shares with the elephants. It was not a commercial show and hundreds of foreign travelers and as well the locals cherished the display of that heritage. Just recently I have been to a temple festival in Kerala, the state that also has an elephant sanctuary, for the most colorful assembly of the elephants, Thissurpooram. Personally for me the first elephant ride unconsciously has turned into an endless elephant safari on the cultural trail!

My edited version: The Epic Story of the Indian Elephants In the city of Jaipur, known as the Pink City of India, one occasionally encounters elephants sauntering down streets with visitors riding atop. The elephant holds a rich, cultural tie to India and is also a priority species for WWF. Elephants bring back many of my childhood memories for me. One day, while I was playing outside, I saw an elephant and his mahout, an elephant rider, passing by my town. I and several other children ran after the mahout and begged him to give us a ride, as none of us had ridden an elephant before. He eventually relented and gave us our first elephant ride, but our joy was short-lived as we all received a scolding from our parents for not asking permission. The Maharajas, members of Indian royalty, of my city also have a long, revered history with the elephants. Elephants have historically led the ceremonial

processions during the festivals of Gangauar and Teej, a tradition which is still upheld today. While visiting a colony of Mahouts, I learned that Jaipurs founder, Maharaja Jai Singh, created a special place in his city especially for elephants and their keepers. After the political merging of Indias princely states, keeping the elephants proved a difficult task, but the rise of tourism provided the support needed for the domesticated elephants. It is not just royal history in which elephants are venerated. In the Indian languages, the names for an elephant include Gaj, Hathi, Gajananand Hasti, just to name a few. The name Vinayak comes from the Hindi word meaning Lord Ganesh, who is known as the Elephant-Headed God. I will explain the story of how Ganesh got his elephant head later on. Many Indian stories also revolve around the elephant. The first elephant story I ever heard was a bedtime story my mother told me. Like all of the other bedtime stories she told me, the elephant story, too, had a moral lesson. The King of the Elephants Humbles Himself The bedtime story my mother told me connected elephants to Indian mythology, and is featured in the sacred Hindu text Shrimad Bhagwat, written by the sage VedVyas. According to the story, an elephant named Gajendra was the King of the Elephants. On one scorching hot afternoon, he decided to cool off in a pond with his family. All of a sudden, a crocodile grabbed Gajendra by the leg and started to pull him in the water. Scared for their own lives, his family members left him. Gajendra then prayed to God to save him from not just death, but ignorance as well. The almighty heard the elephants prayer and saved Gajendra. The moral of the story is that if you purify your mind, abandon pride and doubt and completely surrender yourself to God at the time of death, he will receive you. Gajendras hymn is known as Gajendra Moksha Shlok, and invokes the divine in times of distress. The White Elephant and Rain Another childrens story describes the war between the Gods and the Devils, who were both churning the ocean in order to find a treasured nectar that would make them immortal. By the time they finished churning the ocean, they had found 14 treasures, including Airavata, or the white elephant. After the Gods won the war, Indra, lord of rain, took the white elephant as his own. In Indian mythology, Indra defeats the dragon, Vritra, signifying drought. Vritra kept the worlds water captive. This story explains why my mother used to tell me that Bhagwan Indra had come whenever the sky was cloudy and foreshadowed rain. Elephants, Prosperity and Diwali Elephants are also a part of the festival of Diwali. During Diwali, people worship an image of Laximi, or Lakshmi, Goddess of prosperity, representing the pinnacle of perfection. The two elephants that are spraying water with their trunks around her symbolize royal power. Lakshmi is also considered to be the goddess of animal wealth. The Elephant-Headed God and Success Among the pantheon of 33 million Gods and Goddesses, the first one invoked is Lord Ganesh, known as the Elephant-Headed God, one who removes obstacles. When I was a child, my mother told me one version of the story of how Ganeshji got

his animal head. According to legend, Parvati created a boy to guard the entrance of where she bathed. When the boy refused entry to Parvatis husband, Lord Shiva, the furious lord beheaded him. Parvati asked Shiva to bring the beheaded boy back to life, so Shiva told his aides to bring him the head of the first living thing they could find, which just happened to be an elephant. Beyond the legend, Ganeshs elephant head holds great significance. His head connotes wisdom as well as Atman, the soul. His trunk represents Om, the cosmic reality, and his flappy ears are known to ward off ill talk. Ganeshs tongue does not loll out, which represents the importance of refraining from speaking without thinking. Ganesh is depicted as having only one tooth, which symbolizes the ability to sacrifice. Elephants are known to see objects as bigger than their actual size, so Ganeshs large eyes see even the weakest beings as powerful. The people of Kerala, India, hold a ceremony called Gaj Darshanam where they worship an elephant, the live image of Ganesh, and feed it. Despite the deep connection elephants have with Indian culture, they still face the imminent dangers of poaching, habitat destruction and human conflict in parts of Africa and Asia. WWF engages in numerous efforts to help protect the worlds largest terrestrial animal, including supporting wildlife rangers, advocating for the conservation of elephant habitats and training communities to mitigate human-elephant conflict. I never would have thought that I would be part of the creative team that put together the first elephant festival in Jaipur. The festivals purpose is to share the value of the elephant treasure. As the festival occurred year after year, I gradually became a narrator of the cultural bond India shares with elephants. Hundreds of foreign travelers, as well as locals, have attended the festival and cherished the display of Indias elephant heritage. As I recently visited a temple festival in Kerala for a colorful assembly of elephants, known as Thissur Pooram, I recalled the first elephant ride that I took as a child. That ride has unconsciously turned into an endless elephant safari on the cultural trail! Travel with WWF to India https://worldwildlife.org/tours/india--2