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He is the "king of elephants" also serves as the main vehicle for the deity Indra. [1] It is also called 'abhra-Matanga', meaning "elephant of the clouds"; 'Naga-malla', meaning "the fighting elephant"; and 'Arkasodara', meaning "brother of the sun". [2] 'Abhramu' is the elephant wife of Airavata. Airavata is also the third son of Iravati.
Ganesha is mentioned in Hindu texts between the 1st century BCE and 2nd century CE, and a few Ganesha images from the 4th and 5th centuries CE have been documented by scholars. [13] Hindu texts identify him as the son of Parvati and Shiva of the Shaivism tradition, but he is a pan-Hindu god found in its various traditions.
As the struggle was seemingly endless, when he had spent his last drop of energy, Gajendra called to his deity Vishnu to save him, holding a lotus up in the air as an offering. [2] Hearing his devotee's call and prayer, Vishnu rushed to the scene. As Gajendra sighted the god coming, he lifted the lotus with his trunk.
Vinayaki (Vināyakī) is an elephant-headed Hindu goddess. [1] Her mythology and iconography are not clearly defined. Little is told about her in Hindu scriptures and very few images of this deity exist. [2] Due to her elephantine features, the goddess is generally associated with the elephant-headed god of wisdom, Ganesha.
Ganesha, a god with an elephant's head, has been an object of reverence and worship for more than two millennia. He is offered the epithet Gajānana (the elephant-faced one). Gajalakshmi is a form of Lakshmi who is accompanied by elephants, representing wealth and strength.
The Hindu epic Mahabharata describes two more elephants by the same name – a mythical elephant that was an incarnation of a sage, and the one that belonged to Bhagadatta, the king of Pragjyotisha. Vinayaki is an elephant-headed Hindu goddess, a Matrika. The goddess is generally associated with the elephant-headed god of wisdom, Ganesha.
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 ...
Even more rarely, the elephant-headed Ganesh may be seen riding an elephant, or a lion, or a many-headed serpent (See Ganesha's Vahanas). [16] The vahana, the mount or vehicle of a deity, serves the function of doubling a deity's powers. The vahana also represents the devotee's mind which allows the deity to guide the devotee.