In South Asian and Sri Lankan lore, elephants play a prominent role.
Elephants are viewed as a symbol of wealth and prosperity. There is a belief that when the trunk is raised it is a symbol of good luck, although the origin of this theory is not clear, as it may stem from the practice of a mahout having its elephant raise its trunk as a form of salute. In the inverse, some believe if the trunk is down, it allows fortune to spread to all in its path.
In Hinduism, there are multiple different myths as to the origin of elephants. One legend claims that elephants began with the birth of the king of elephants, Airavata. One version of this story asserts that Airavata was born of a sage, another that he emerged from a churning ocean, and a third that he emerged when the god Brahma sang hymns over a garuda shell. Airavata was believed to be a white elephant with multiple trunks and four tusks. Upon his emergence from the shell, seven other male elephants emerged, as did eight female elephants, who became the guardians of the directions of the world, Airavata becoming guardian of the east. In other tales, Airavata is the mount of the god Indra, the king of the gods.
Another obvious association of elephants with Hinduism is in the appearance of the god Ganesha, the elephant-headed god. Initially, Ganesha did not have this appearance, but that of a normal humanoid deity, as the son of the god Shiva and the goddess Parvati. However, his unique appearance was the result of a conflict between himself and Shiva. After creating Ganesha from earth and breathing life into him, Parvati asked Ganesha to guard the cave where she bathed. Shiva, wishing to meet with Parvati and having not yet recognized Ganesha, grew angry when Ganesha stopped him from entering, and beheaded him. Repentant upon learning the truth and Parvati’s rage, Shiva bestowed upon Ganesha the head of the first creature he saw, which was an elephant, and brought him back to life.
The elephant also plays an important role in Buddhist beliefs. There is a story that Queen Maya of northern India (now Nepal) had a dream of a white elephant that entered her side. Later, she would give birth to Siddhartha, who would come to be known as the Buddha. The Buddha was also said to use elephants as examples in many of his parables. It is natural, therefore, that ceremonies honoring the Buddha would involve elephants, and are believed to have occurred in Sri Lanka as early as the third century BCE. These later evolved into events such as the Kandy Esala Perahera, or The Festival of the Tooth, where part of the rite involves placement of a replica of the relic of the tooth of the Buddha on the back of an ornately-decorated, large, tusked Maligawa elephant, which is paraded through the streets followed by other bedecked elephants.