The following elephants or elephant-like figures occur in mythology and religion.
Lists
Deities with elephant heads Ganesh, a 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.
See also Gaja, elephants in Hindu mythology List of fictional elephants List of individual elephants List of legendary creatures
References
