|
Looks come with a premium.Even before the majestic jumbo was domesticated, it was revered by man as one of the most magnificent animals. So much so that very soon the Hindu pantheon had a God with an elephant face: the one god loved by all and propitiated before beginning any activity, or even the new day.
That the story is very old is proven by the seal that was found from archaeological excavations of the Indus Valley Civilization. The seal shows an elephant standing over a manger indicating that man had already learnt to tame the big grey animal. Geographically speaking, the elephant is indigenous to India and many parts of Asia. Of course, it is also found in Africa, but etymologically the word elephant is derived from the root in Sanskrit �ibha�.
Wars were fought form elephant backs, temples employed elephants for the deity to travel into the cities, rich men stated their status by maintaining elephants. And why not? From time immemorial, the elephant has come to symbolize strength, prosperity and wisdom. Biblical stories have been explained with the help of elephants, like in its habits is told the lesson of the Fall. It is said that the male elephant is uninterested in sex and only when the female elephant gives its male the aphrodisiac plant, does it respond. Similarly in Buddhist thought, the elephant is classified as tame or as wild. The wild one represents unpredictable, violent, irrational behaviour like the man possessed with desire. The tame one represents strength, stability, wisdom, moderation and compassion. That is why Queen Maya, mother of Siddhartha, who later became the Buddha, dreamt of a tame white elephant entering her body just before she conceived her child.
According to Hindu mythology, it is believed that the world is supported on eight pairs of elephants who are therefore called Lokpalas. These elephants are said to have been created by Brahma at the beginning of Creation. Guardian and holding up the earth as they are, the elephants have become synonymous as guardians. It is thus that the elephant god Ganesha is also looked upon as a guardian. A visual expression of this thought is seen in temples which always have elephant motifs at the entry as well as a living one. The living one standing at the threshold symbolizes the link between the sacred and the profane, the inner sanctum and the outside world, the relation between chaos and order, wild and tame! They are creatures who belong to both worlds. It was therefore an honour to ride these elephants. Among the immortals, the famous white elephant Airavatam is said to be the mount of Lord Indra, the king of heavens. Among the mortals kings took great care of their elephants for it is believed that the king who did not do so, would loose all that he had in his kingdom. A kingdom which had a weak royal elephant was doomed.
Naturally those who live in the world of imagination did not take long to fantasize about this animal and soon you have a man�s strength being compared in terms to that of an elephant, a woman�s gait being as beautiful as that of an elephant. Poets looked at the grey skin of the pachyderm as the grey dark cloud. Weavers transformed these animals into motifs to adorn cloth, particularly bridal wear, for it symbolize prosperity in the bride�s life.
When devotion is complete, superstition takes little time to build. Elephant hair worn as an amulet is said to ward off evil. Some families in Maharashtra have adopted the elephant as their devakor family deity.
It is thus that while Africa is facing a tremendous problem with decreasing number of elephants, India finds itself better off. This is even though all cultures coexisting in India believe that if a live elephant is worth a certain amount, the dead one is worth three times as much. The problem that exists is not so much due to poaching as due to breaks in the elephant corridors. People do not hurt elephants even if they eat up their entire field of sugarcane. It is deemed as God�s will. In fact they often err by going too close to the animal which in self protection gives them a jumbo kick!
| 
