Elephants are Sacred

Elephants are big animals, with small eyes and huge ears.
They have a good memory and hardly ever forget the places
they have been, never repeating a path that once proved itself
to be dangerous. They live in groups and look after each other
carefully. If they happen to see the bones of another elephant
that belonged to the group, they make a loud noise and let the
others know that one of them is gone, so that they can come
and silently say goodbye.
But, most importantly, the elephants are obedient creatures,
and although they are careful and calm most of the time, if the
leader of the group calls for a specific task, the others
instinctively obey, passing over anything that is in front of
them, destroying any obstacle that comes in their way, and
becoming insensible to pain or fatigue it is practically
impossible to stop an elephant when it is answering the
master's call

Elephant Worship

Hindus have worshiped the elephants for many centuries, but

the true philosophy behind the animal worship has been
misinterpreted and distorted by many western researchers.
When Hindus worship the elephant, it is not the animal itself
that they are worshipping, but rather, what it represents
obedience to the dharma (the master's call), ability not to
repeat past mistakes, and respect and care towards their
peers.
A perfect disciple acts like an elephant. He devotes complete
obedience to the master, his eyes are small, as he does not use
the eyes of the physical body, but the eyes of the spirit. He has
large ears, as he listens more than he speaks. He informs all
the others about the dangers he encounters in his path
towards enlightenment, and finally, when he needs to
accomplish a certain task, physical pain, tiredness, hunger
and thirst are no obstacles for him. Great men in history were
elephants, they did not fear, and yet, they were docile.

Unlike Buddhists, Hindus represented a

philosophical/theological concept through images. The image
of the elephant, then, was used to represent all attributes and

characteristics that a perfect disciple should have. So, many

Hindu gods are personifications of a set of attributes. The
deification of images was a way to inform the crowd about
social rules and moral obligations.

Elephant Festivals in India

Hindus celebrate elephant festivals in order to pay homage to
the elephants or to Ganapati (Ganesha), the Hindu god that
has the head of an elephant. The traditional elephant festival
happens in March in the city of Jaipur, it is a procession of
beautifully adorned female elephants that attracts tourists
from all over the globe. The Ganesh festival happens between
August and September and lasts ten days. Although this
festival is celebrated in many different cities, Maharashtra is
known for its festivities. During the celebrations, many images
of Ganesh are made so that people can buy them and keep
them in their houses for ten days, when finally they take the
images to the river. This is a very beautiful ceremony.

Lord Ganesha or Ganapati the Elephant

God
Lord Ganesha, also called Ganapati, is perhaps one of the
most adored gods in India. In Hindu mythology, Ganesha is
the first son of Shiva and Parvati, and is also called "remover

of obstacles", a characteristic associated to the elephant.

Ganesha's head is the head of an elephant to symbolize
wisdom a man who has the mind of an elephant is a wise
man. Ganesha is accompanied by a rat, which the elephant
uses as a vehicle. It is interesting to notice how such a small
creature a mouse can carry a huge and heavy elephant.
The story of a rat who carries an elephant symbolizes the
physical body (the rat), who is conducted by the spirit (the
elephant). The rat lives in the underworld surrounded by dirt
and darkness, like the human ego which is full of lower
passions and material pleasures, but the spirit (elephant)
needs to take a physical body in order to arrive at its final
destination. According to Hinduism, humans are elephants
believing they are rats, so, the story of Ganapati teaches how
to remove obstacles and allow this huge spiritual being our
true forgotten nature to be in charge of the human ego.