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Gauravm at 22:34, 12 November 2011

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Gauravm: Created page with "{{Likeboxes}} ==Elephants in Indian culture== Elephants are intricately associated with human life in India {|class="wik..."

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Created page with "{{Likeboxes}} ==Elephants in Indian culture== Elephants are intricately associated with human life in India {|class="wik..."

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==Elephants in Indian culture==
[[File:Calles de Amritsar-India45.JPG|right|250px|thumb|Elephants are intricately associated with human life in India]]
{|class="wikitable"
! ''Discussed species''
| ''[[Elephas maximus]]'', [[Indian Elephant]], हाथी
|-
!'' Distribution''
| Mainland Asia (India to Vietnam/Cambodia) and Sri Lanka.
|-
! ''IUCN Status''
| [[Endangered]]. In 2003, the wild population was estimated at between 41,410 and 52,345 individuals<ref>{{cite book |author= Sukumar, R. |year=2003 |title=The Living Elephants: Evolutionary Ecology, Behavior, and Conservation |publisher=Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK}}</ref>. The population has declined by at least 50% over the last three generations, estimated to be 60–75 years<ref name=iucn>Assessors=Choudhury, A., Lahiri Choudhury, D.K., Desai, A., Duckworth, J.W., Easa, P.S., Johnsingh, A.J.T., Fernando, P., Hedges, S., Gunawardena, M., Kurt, F., Karanth, U., Lister, A., Menon, V., Riddle, H., Rübel, A., Wikramanayake, E. (2008), version=2010.4 </ref>
|}

The '''Asian''' or '''Asiatic elephant''' (''Elephas maximus'') is the only living species of the genus ''[[Elephas]]'' and distributed in [[w:Southeast Asia|Southeast Asia]] from India in the west to [[w:Borneo|Borneo]] in the east. Three subspecies are recognized — ''[[w:Elephas maximus maximus|Elephas maximus maximus]]'' from Sri Lanka, the [[w:Indian elephant|Indian elephant or ''E. m. indicus'']] from mainland Asia, and ''[[w:Sumatran Elephant|E. m. sumatranus]]'' from the island of [[w:Sumatra|Sumatra]]. Asian elephants are the largest living land animals in Asia<ref name="Shoshani82">{{cite journal |author=Shoshani, J, Eisenberg, J. F. |year=1982 |title=Elephas maximus |journal=Mammalian Species |volume=182 |pages=1–8 |jstor=3504045 |doi=10.2307/3504045}}</ref>. The species is pre-eminently threatened by habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation<ref name=iucn>{{IUCN |assessors=Choudhury, A., Lahiri Choudhury, D.K., Desai, A., Duckworth, J.W., Easa, P.S., Johnsingh, A.J.T., Fernando, P., Hedges, S., Gunawardena, M., Kurt, F., Karanth, U., Lister, A., Menon, V., Riddle, H., Rübel, A., Wikramanayake, E. |year=2008 |id=7140 |taxon=Elephas maximus |version=2010.4 }}</ref>. Elephants have also been hunted extensively in the past for their prized [[w:ivory|ivory]] tuskers.

[[File:Udaygiri2.jpg|thumb|left|Elephant statues at the ruined Buddhist temple in [[w:Udaygiri|Udaygiri]], [[Orissa]], [[India]].]]
Elephants assume a very special place in the religious as well as the day-to-day culture of [[Kerala]]. Kerala has more than seven hundred elephants in captivity. Most of them are owned by temples. While some elephants are used for religious ceremonies in and around the temples, a few also work at timber yards. Almost all of the festivals in Kerala include at least one richly decorated elephant. Elephants carry the deity during annual festival processions in the temples.These [[Elephant|Indian elephant]]s are loved, revered, groomed and given a prestigious place in the state's culture<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=G2yWe6ulHkEC&pg=PA4&dq=Elephants+Kerala+culture&as_brr=3 ''South India Handbook''. Footprint Travel Guides, 2000. ISBN 1-900949-81-4. P.4]</ref>. Many elephants are featured in the legends of the land. ''Aithihyamala'' (or a garland of historical anecdotes) by [[w:Kottarathil Sankunni|Kottarathil Sankunni]] was written in eight volumes; each volume ending with a story or legend about a famous elephant. '''''[[w:Elephants_in_Kerala_culture|For more about importance of elephants in Kerala culture, click here]].'''''

Elephants are important in Indian mythology too. Lord [[w:Ganesha|Ganesha]] - one of the most popular Indian deities and the Lord of Wisdom - bears an elephant head. The elephant head symbolizes great intellect and wisdom. The God of Gods [[w:Indra|Indra]] is believed to have a white elephant named [[w:Airavata|Airavata]] as his vehicle. Elephants are also a symbol of royalty - [[w:Maharaja|Maharajas]] and kings used to ride during processions and in war on elephants. [[w:Megasthenes|Megasthenes]], the Greek ambassador to the court of [[w:Chandragupta Maurya|Chandragupta Maurya]] reported the use of war elephants during warfare. The [[w:white elephant|white elephant]] is also a religious symbol of the [[w:Gautama Buddha|Buddha]]). The political party - the [[w:Bahujan Samaj Party|Bahujan Samaj Party]] - has an elephant as its election symbol.

In [[w:Islam|Islamic]] tradition, the year 570, when the Prophet [[w:Muhammad|Muhammad]] was born, is known as the [[w:Year of the Elephant|Year of the Elephant]]. In that year, as recounted in the Muslim sources, [[w:Abraha|Abraha]], ruler of [[w:Yemen|Yemen]] (most likely a viceroy for the [[w:Axumite Empire|Axumite Empire]] of Ethiopia), sought to conquer [[w:Mecca|Mecca]] and demolish the [[w:Kaaba|Kaaba]], reportedly in retaliation for the previous Meccan defilement of a cathedral Abraha had constructed in [[w:Sana'a|Sana'a]]. He launched an expedition of forty thousand men, led by a white elephant named Mahmoud (and possibly with other elephants - some accounts state there were several elephants, or even as many as eight)<ref name="Hajjah">Hajjah Adil, Amina, "''Prophet Muhammad''", ISCA, Jun 1, 2002, ISBN 1-930409-11-7</ref><ref name="Watt">William Montgomery Watt (1974), p.7</ref>). However, his design was foiled when Abraha's elephant reportedly refused to cross the boundary of Mecca and sat down. It could not be persuaded otherwise, either by reason or violence. The accounts state that if the elephant was turned towards Syria or Yemen it would walk without hesitation, but when it was turned towards the Kaaba it would kneel on its knees as if it would adore the city that its master was intent on destroying. "[[w:Al-Fil|Al-Fil]]" ("The Elephant") - 105th [[w:Sura|Sura]] (chapter) of the [[w:Koran|Koran]] - commemorates this event with the verse: "''Hast thou not observed how thy Lord dealt with the owners of the Elephant? Did He not bring their stratagem to nought?''"

'''''[[w:Cultural depictions of elephants|For more cultural depictions of elephants, see this page on Wikipedia]]'''''

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Comments==
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Elephant in indian culture - Revision history

Gauravm at 02:28, 25 November 2011

Gauravm: /* Semantic tags */

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Gauravm at 22:34, 12 November 2011

Gauravm: Created page with "{{Likeboxes}} ==Elephants in Indian culture== Elephants are intricately associated with human life in India {|class="wik..."