List of elephants in mythology and religion explained

The following elephants or elephant-like figures occur in mythology and religion.

Lists

Deities with elephant heads

• Ganesh, the famous Hindu deity.
• Malini, a goddess associated with the birth of Ganesha
• Vinayaki, a Hindu goddess.

Mythological elephants

• Airavata, an elephant ridden by the Hindu god Indra.
  • The eight Ashtadiggajass described as supporting the world in Hindu cosmology Erawan, the Thai version of Airavata
  • Gajasura, an elephant demon from Hindu mythology Gajendra, from the Sanskrit text Gajendra Moksha
• Girimekhala, the elephant that carries Mara in Theravada Buddhism
• Kasogonagá, a Toba deity described as either an elephant or an anteater.
• Supratika, a name for several elephants in Hindu mythology
• Behemoth, a demon depicted as a round-bellied elephant

Other instances

An elephant god doubtlessly existed in the predynastic period of Egypt, as indicated from the statuette of a man with the head of an elephant. Jean Vercoutter discovered this in a temple in Sudan, Wad ban Naqa. In 1970, during the German expedition of Musawwarat es-Sufra at Sudan, graffito was found on the eastern outside wall of the Temple of Mut of an elephant-headed figure wearing a sun disk.^[1]

See also

• Gaja, elephants in Hindu mythology
• List of fictional elephants
• List of individual elephants
• List of legendary creatures

Notes and References

1. https://jaauth.journals.ekb.eg/article_49962_17e11db4064eb0fcb95398b11b7e2b75.pdf "Elephants In Ancient Egypt"