ELEPHANTS AND RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
01. Hindu Religion.
The elephant is the most conspicuous of the few animals which is endowed with a godly status in any religion in the world. The elevation of the elephant to such a position in the Hindu religion is a matter of great speculation. In Hindu beliefs, God Ganepathy is a member of the Hindu pantheon of gods. He is regarded as the younger son of God Siva and goddess Parvathi, their elder son being God Skanda (God Kataragama in Sri Lanka). God Siva is one of the triad of the supreme gods, the others being Brahma, the creator and God Vishnu.
Every Hindu temple in the world has a statue of God Ganepathy, which is characterized by the head, face, ears and trunk of an elephant and the body, hands and legs of a human.
Hindus regard God Ganepathy to be the god for intelligence, memory, wisdom, patience, strength and endurance and all devotees first worship God Ganepathy on entering the temples, Shrines dedicated to god Ganepathy are found by the roadways and forest paths over the vast extents of rural areas of India and Sri Lanka and people seek his divine protection from all calamities. Hindus in Sri Lanka also use the name ' Pillaiyar' for God Ganepathy. Rev. Baldaeus, the Dutch predicant of 1657, in his ' Description of Ceylon ' (1672), states of the Tamil community of the districts of Mannar and Jaffna, 'that they pay much attention to the head of an elephant, made of either wood or stone, to acquire wisdom' and that 'they adorn their idols with flowers.'
It is believed that prehistoric migrations from some regions in Northern Europe, Western Russia etc.. to the Indian peninsula through its North Western mountain passes resulted in the establishment of an Indo - European community of people settling first in the plains of the Indus river and gradually spreading over to the other parts of India. These Indo - Europeans were a pastoral people tending cattle and cultivating land and were strict vegetarians. With time, the religion which we call Hinduism evolved in their society, which placed special emphasis on spiritual development of its followers. They also excelled in their knowledge of metaphysics and mathematics. This ' Hindu Culture' existed in India before the advent of both Buddhism and Jainism. As the northern limits of the elephants habitat even now, encompasses the foot hills of the Himalayas, these people would have observed the elephants which dwelled in the valleys, plaings and forests of India. Did the seers, sages, rishis and mystics amongst these people elevate the elephants to a god for the followers of their religion, to emulate its outstanding and noble qualities which they observed, for the benefit of human society and also protect the elephant for the role it plays for the healthy sustenance of the world by its important role in the conservation of forests? Careful observers of elephants realise that elephants possess all the noble qualities which human beings are always in short supply of while they are not in possession of the base qualities that human beings are never short of. In the Hindu religion, this message is stressed to mankind, by having the human form only beneath the head of an elephant in the statues of God Ganepathy or in other words replacing the human head with that of an elephant.
Sir, Emerson Tenant, the British Colonial secretary, resident in Sri Lanka, from1845 to 1850, in his unique literary monument 'Ceylon' (1859), states, in the long chapter on ' Elephants' in volume II, that the elephant is a harmless and peaceful animal. In order to dispel doubts that the elephant is a dangerous animal, he has given statistics of human casualties caused by various animals as follows, for the period 1849 to 1855 : elephants 16, Buffaloes 15, crocodiles 6, boars 2, bear 1, serpents 68 Reading through the accounts given by British hunters of these times, even of these 16 deaths by elephants, several were Britishers, engaged in 'elephants shoots', who had dared to get too close to elephants and paid the price for their misfirings and misadventures.
What are the outstanding qualities of elephants which elevated them to a godly status in the Hindu religion? Both in the African and Asian species, they all display the following characteristics and possibly these were also some which qualified them to a godly status in prehistoric India.
· They never fight with each other for territory, food or water.
· In comparison to human beings who are divided from each other on basis of race, colour, tribes, castes, religion, politics etc.. elephants do not amongst themselves have any divisions and mix and act feely.
· Their altruism is of the highest order, especially in looking after their young, exemplified by,
§ All calves are nursed by all the lactating elephants in the herd, irrespective of whether a calf is one's own or not.
§ When in danger the calves are thrust into the center of the herd and surrounded by a sea of legs to give them maximum protection.
§ Calves are kept upstream of adults elephants when herds negotiate rivers, to prevent calves getting carried downstream with the current.
§ The male elephants on reaching sexual maturity, vacate the herd, spread out and forage elsewhere which gives a better chance for she elephants and calves to sustain themselves better on the limited supplies of food and water needed for their existence than with all adult males also in the herd.
· Always there is discipline and order in the herd and the leader's authority is never challenged.
· For the duties of guarding or reconnoitering or attacking etc, it is only one individual of the herd who engages itself in performing the necessary task at anyone instant and there is no interference by any other of the herd.
This exemplary conduct of all the elephants in their elephantine society is far above the conduct of humans, inspite of all the human efforts to improve themselves anywhere on this earth and each elephant is a super and just ' Dharma being' not encountered elsewhere in the entire terrestrial world, inclusive of human beings.
02. Elephants in Buddhism.
Two incidents concerning elephants are mentioned in Buddhist lore. First, Queen Mahamaya Devi the mother of prince Siddhartha, who later became Lord Buddha, is said to have seen in a dream, a white elephant with a white lotus flower grasped in its trunk, encircling her thrice and then entering her body, which coincided with the time that prince Siddhartha was conceived by her.
The second involves the tusker, Nallagiri. Devadattha, a prince of royal blood and a cousin of Lord Buddha, was jealous of the widespread glory Lord Buddha enjoyed in society. He plied Nalagiri with liquor to intoxication, goaded him to extreme fury and drove him towards Lord Buddha, hoping it to kill Lord Buddha. But, Nalagiri even though in a drunken rage, discerned the immense kindness of the Buddha, knelt down in front and saluted the Buddha.
03. God Saman, his elephant and ' Gana Devi'
In ancient times, many kings, such as Vijayabahu I (1055 to 1114 AD) and Nissankamalla (1187 to 1196 AD) have visited Adam's Peak, which in believed to be one of the three sites visited by Lord Buddha before the recorded period of the introduction of Buddhism to Sri Lanka, corresponding to the reign of king Devanampiyatissa between 307 and 247 BC. God Saman is regarded to the custodian deity of Adam's Peak. Tennent (1859) states Major skinner mentioning that he had seen the spoor of elephants on top of Adam's Peak, probably meaning close to the summit and not the summit itself. Therefore, in times earlier than recorded history of the Mahawansa, just as how God Ganepathy was a subject of Hindu beliefs in India, God Saman and the elephant would have been a belief of the pre- Vijayan inhabitants of Sri Lanka. At present in the Sinhala settlements in forested areas, villagers seek the protection of 'Gane Devi', which are in shrines with stone sculptures of God Ganepathy, beneath huge trees by the wayside.
04. Wild elephants at Somawathy - Chaitya National park in Sri Lanka.
The Somawathy dagaba lies within this National Park. It had been constructed in 161-137 BC by princess Somawathy, paternal aunt of King Dutugemunu and enshrines a sacred tooth relic of Lord Buddha. In his book, ' The radiant rays of the Buddha of the Somawathy Chaithya' Venerable Pahamune Sri Sumangala Nayaka thero, the chief priest of this temple, mentions of many instances when rays were emitted from the chaitya and wild elephants paid homage to the chaithya. On 4th July 1981, on the occasion of the pinnacle laying ceremony of the dagaba, the then president of Sri Lanka, Hon. Mr. J.R. Jayawardene, his retinue and the chief priest had observed the emission of six hued rays for 45 minutes. The chief priest also describes three instances of wild elephants visiting the chaitya at night, bend themselves at their knees and raise their trunks to salute the Chaitya. The Somawathy chaitya together with the surrounding forests in the most extraordinary place in the entire world where the extrasensory perception of wild elephants interact with the unchartered mysteries around the sacred relicts of Lord Buddha. The late Sri Lankan president, Hon. J.R. Jayawardene, has made the greatest contribution to Buddhism and the wild elephants of Sri Lanka since Independance in 1948 by declaring the environs of the Somawathy Chaitya as National Parks (Somawathy NP 37762 ha in 1986 and the Flood Plain NP 17350 ha in 1984)
I have had the good fortune to have heard chief priest Venerable Randiligama Ananda Thero of the Sri Buwenekaba Maha Viharaya, mention that on a visit to the Somawathy Chaithya in 2001, in the company of two other chief priests, Venerable Talawathura Pagnatissa Nayake Thero and Venerable Niyamgamdora Wimalajothi Nayaka Thero, that while they were resting inside the van, at 1.30am, all of them saw two wild elephants enter the premises of the chaithya and walk around it, with one of them touching with its outstretched trunk, the alters, bedecked with blossoms placed by devotees during the daylight hours and immediately raise its trunk to the chaitya in salutation.
Since the mid 13th century, the Somawathy Chaithya and its environs was covered over by jungle. When it was discovered in 1947, the Chaitya precincts were home to a large herd of elephants. Its certain that, during the seven centuaries from the 13th, it is only the presence of elephants which prevented the destruction of the Chaithya by vandals and treasure hunters. At present, even during daylight hours, with pilgrims around the Chaitya, wild elephants from the surrounding forests, visits the chaitya, remain calmly for sometime on their side of the electric fence and return back to the forests.
05. The privileged position of the elephants preceding the advent of the Portuguese in 1505 AD to Sri Lanka.
Although the Hindus have granted a godhy status to the elephant, the Sri Lankan Buddhists have not placed the elephant on the altar of worship. However, the elephants in the Island, under the rule of kings enjoyed royal protection which is stated in the books by Captain Robert Knox (1681) and Rev. Phillipus Baldaeus. (1972).
Captain Robert Knox, who was a prisoner of king Rajasinghe II, in the Kandyan Kingdom from 1660 to 1680 has stated in the book ' Historical Relation of Ceylon' that the capture of elephants must be preceded by permission granted by the king and no one is permitted to lift a hand against elephants in spite of damages to crops by elephants.
Rev. Phillipus Baldaens, Dutch predikant, who came to Ceylon on the conquest of Colombo by the Dutch in 1656, spent nine years in the Island with one year at Matara and the balance in Northern Ceylon with the Tamil Community and after leaving the Island in 1665, published the book 'Description of Ceylon' in 1672. He had access to important historical documents and writes of one of the conditions of the contract entered into on 23rd May 1638 between the Dutch officer Admiral Adam Westerwold and King Rajasinghe II, " With respect to the sale of elephants, which are the sole property of His Majesty...."
Though both refer to times after the advent of the Portuguese, the royal protection to elephants stem from the times of the ancient kings.
As mentioned earlier, the elephant has had the special status as the companion of God Saman, the custodian deity, of Adams' Peak, which is a belief that would have been held also by ancient kings, some of whom have visited Sri Pada.
The rock temples of Gadaladeniya and Lankathilake in Sri Lanka, built in the 14th Century, for the worship of Lord Buddha and various gods, are also profusely decorated with store sculptures of the heads of elephants.
Further, Archaeologist Mr. H.C.P. Bell discovered in the lower reaches of the Mahaweli, far below Manampitiya, a life sized sculpture of an elephant belonging to the Polonnaruwa period or an earlier era.
The absolute and indispensable necessity of the elephants as the beavers and protectors, of the sacred Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha, as a warrior, as the Beast of Burden for the construction of the granite sluices, anicuts and dams, the foundations of stupendous dagabas, temples, palaces, ponds and the massive earthen embankments of gigantic reservoir's and channels which all needed and used its prodigious power, energy, skill and its ability to think and perform as an engineer, surveyor, mason and fitter, to lift and place, to bear and endure, to push and pull, to haul and carry, to trample and compact vast loads must have given the elephants a status equivalent or even above, that accorded to the highest of men in the land in ancient society.
06. The first Sri Lankan Ambassador to the Vatican.
The first Sri Lankan Ambassador to the Vatican is of special interest because of reflecting, it connects back to what impressions elephants created in the minds of the Indo - Europeans, whose forebears crossed the high mountain passes of North Western India to settle down in that country. This anecdote in from the book ' Ceylon of the early travellers' by a former Ambassdor of Sri Lanka to Italy, Mr. H.A.J. Hulugalle. In it is stated, that in 1507, a small elephant taken from Ceylon to India, was despatched by the Portugese Viceroy to king Manuel of Portugul Annone, as it was called, spent seven years in Lisbon, when King Manuel Presented Annone to to His Excellancy, The pope Leo X. At the Vatican, Annone captuted the hearts of the Cardinals and the artists in addition to that of the Pope, but unfortunately, it had died three years later due to digestive disorders arising from the large variety of foods given to it by well-wishers. Apart from the singular event of its burial in the Vatican gardens, its memory is fondly retained in the sculpture of a fountain designed by Cardinal Giuliano Medici, who himself became Pope Clement VII. Though the fountain was later destroyed during the sack of Rome, the head and the curly trunk of the model Annone still exists in ' Villa Madama' the present official residence of the Italian Prime Minister. In addition, the elephant in the mural of the loggia of the palace, done by the Umbrian painter Raphael, a contemporary of Annone at the Vatican premises, would without a doubt, be a portrait from the life of Annone. Out of the thousands of elephants exported from Ceylon, during the Colonial rule of the Portugese, the Dutch and the British, lasting period of 443 years, perhaps, it was only Annone, who at least had the fortune to spend a restful life of love and peace and be remembered forever with gratitude, in the sacred precints of the Vatican.
07. The Elephant versus the Lion an the emblem of the National Flag.
It is sad to note that Sri Lanka, which has from the time to the reign of King Devanampiyatissa (307-247BC), endeavored to retain Buddhism as the national religion, still has as its national emblem the carnivorous lion, a complete foreigner, both physically and culturally, but, so far the Sri Lankans have never been able to grant this position to the elephant, the immemorial, inhabitant who displays many noble and valuable qualities in degrees far surpassing human beings in the island and which cause it to deserve itself to be placed as the national emblem instead of the lion.
08. Abuse of the elephant in logos.
Within the last 150 years, the elephant has been used as an emblem for various organizations and institutions in Sri Lanka, but it seems that it has been done without a true appreciation of the qualities of the elephants but only to advertise and emphasize the power of the organizations. This has only resulted in making the elephant unpopular among people, especially its use as a political emblem causing also a loss of hopes of survival for the elephants.
09. The Decimation, the Desecration and the Forsaking of the elephants in Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lankan Buddhists have never deified the elephant, although they worship God Saman accompanied by an elephant. The sacred Tooth Relic is also borne on a tusker and elephant sculptures adorn some temples such as Gadaladeniya and Lankathilaka. In comparison, the Tamil Hindu Community predominant in the districts of Jaffna, Mannar, Kilinochchi, Mulllativu, Trincomalee and Batticoloa and considerable in the districts of Vavunia and Ampara worship God Ganepathy (Pillaiyar). However both the Sinhala Buddhist and Tamil Hindu Communities have been apathetic and indifferent to the sad plight of the elephants since the advent of the Portugese in 1505 AD.
The Portugese (from 1505 to 1658 AD) increased by leaps and bounds the capture of elephants by the use of kraals they introduced from India for the capture from the maritime districts they controlled and maintained an average export figure of 37 elephants annually (Abeysinghe 1966). The Dutch (From 1658 to 1796AD) , further increased the captures and exports to 100-150 annually (Tennent1859) to the " Mooren" traders who came from Bengal and the Coromandel coast (Baldeus 1672). They housed the captured elephants in the Jaffna Peninsula which had over 1500 stalls to hold them for auctions and exports and exported them from Karaitivu (Jurriansse 1940). Exports from Mannar also prevailed during the Dutch period.
The British (1796 to 1948) resorted to the wholesale slaughter of elephants, even allowing (or is it encouraging!) the " Caffres" of the Pioneer Crop of the Kandyan Province to butcher and 'eat the heart of elephants' to butcher and eat the hearts (Tennent 1859), the killing of elephants as a " Sport " , the offering of rewards to villagers throught the island for the killing of elephants (Tennent 1859 : 3500 elephants killed between 1845 and 1848 in the Northern Province, 2000 elephants killed between 1851 and 1856 in the Southern Province), initially the Reward payment was 10 to 15 shillings per elephant killed, while the Jaffna coconut planting community paid 10 pounds per elephant killed and the British continued the Kraal captures which exceeded 50 kraals for the British period of the 19th Centuary ( Modder 1898). Further, pannikans (moorish elephant catchers ) capturing elephants for sale to Arabs from India are stated to shoot mothers to enable them to capture their young (Adams, Assistant Government Agent Batticoloa 1869). Clark, the Commissioner of Forests for 25 years, up to 1900, states that the pannikans caught 2190 elephants for export from 1863 to 1899 but their methods were so destructive that two deaths occured for each elephant which survived, which accounts for 4440 deaths of elephants by pannikans from 1863 to 1899 alone!
It could be assumed that by 1900, not only the wetzone of Sri Lanka but, the Jaffna District had also lost its elephant population. The colonisation schemes, the Galoya, Walawe and Mahaweli Projects all brought in their wake large numbers of elephant killings by farmers by shooting and by other devious, cruel means designed by farmers to escape detection. In most cases, the elephant drives and translocations done by the wild life department and various authorities, to reduce elephant - human conflicts had alarming casualty rates but were not publicized to avoid the hue and cry of the elephant conservation minded factions of the public. However, it could be said that the entire Sri Lankan population remain apathetic, deaf, dumb and blind to the agony of the suffering the elephants were and are subjected to.
In a nutshell, the coming of the Portugese to the island started a train of events which is recorded in detail in history, administrative reports, literary accounts, drawings, etchings on wood, photographs etc.. that all three colonial powers, the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British as well as all three major communities living in this island, the Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims, played an active part in both the physical decimation of the elephants and the desecration of the lofty position the elephant occupied in religion and culture in the Tamil Hindu and Sinhala Buddhist communities in the Island, leading to the destruction of the core values of co-existence between men and elephants which was a feature of our Island's ancient civilization.
10. The Conservation of elephants, Inter racial harmony and the renaissance of the dry zone economy .
Sri Lanka is now having its last chance to ensure the survival of its elephants and it needs the co-operation of the three major communities, the Sinhalese, the Tamils and the Muslims in the various regions of the dry zone in which they predominate, to implement a conservation programme to ensure both the survival of the elephant into the future and an economic renaissance plan based on tourism using more national parks created for elephants to benefit the people of the various areas of the dry zone.
Though it has not been mentioned before, the elephant is a 'common denominator;' connecting the Tamil Hindu community with their belief in God Ganepathy and the Sinhala Buddhist community in their worship of God Sumana Saman who is accompanied by an elephant. Peace, instead of discord, between the two communities would prevail, as between all elephants who have no barriers amongst themselves, if both strive to protect and conserve the elephants of Sri Lanka, as elephants occupy a special place in the religion of one and its participation in the ancient civilization and the present religious culture of the other.
References :- The Dry Zone of Sri Lanka
The Mahaweli Development Scheme and Elephants (Parts I and II)
https:// lkelephants.blogspot.com
http:// mahawelifailure.blogspot.com
Yasantha De Silva.
B.Sc (Agriculture)
