International Conference on Asian Elephants in Culture & Nature
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Item Elephant in Ancient Indian stories(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Vinaya, K.Elephant, the gorgeous animal has played an important role in ancient tales. It has become a part of the life of many heroes in various stories. One of such heroes is Udayana, who is well-known for his expertise in the Elephant-lore. In the Buddhist stories also we find the elephant assuming a leading and vital position. In the Puranas also the elephant symbolises pomp and riches. It will be really interesting to note the place this animal has got in the ancient literature and various aspects of its usage. This paper intends to note the intension behind the employment of this motif of the elephant and its significance in any particular story or plot conceived by any poet. It is intended here to present a graph of such ideology and trace out the evolution through the historical point of view in the imaginative usages by the poets and the representation of notions and concepts presented by means of this element of nature. Also it is aimed here to think about the perspective behind the use of this symbol in the ancient tales, be it Ancient Indian or Buddhist or Puranic.Item Elephants and Gods: A Sacred Alliance(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Palande-Datar, S.K.; Khare, A.V.Stories of elephant in life and legends have captured the imagination for the countless generations of Indian subcontinent. The very form of the elephant triggers awe, delight and extraordinary grandeur, in one’s mind. Thus, it is no wonder that it has been assimilated and internalised in legends and stories of Indian subcontinent. Throughout the history, cannons of all the three main religious traditions of India are filled with mythological stories where elephants are part of central story, in association with Gods and Goddesses. Both malevolent and benevolent aspects of elephants are superbly utilised in the description of deity and/or mythological narratives. Various shilpa texts further stress and elaborate on the iconographic elephant association, brought out by these sacred texts. These iconological associations take its form in the sculptural compositions found in religious complexes across Indian subcontinent. So much so, that the very deity can be identified with the specific elephant aspect. The common examples are easily observed in the story of Ganeśa or in the form of Gaja-Lakṣmī. The paper, thus, aims at tracing this sacred alliance between elephants and religious pantheons in Brahmanical, Jaina and Buddhist traditions of India through prominent examples. It attempts to comparatively evaluate the textual narratives and sculptural art.