A Purple Elephant For A Happy Deepavali

Deepavali, a Hindu festival will be celebrated this coming Friday, 5th November. This stage decoration with a purple elephant can be viewed at Aeon Shopping Centre, Bandar Bukit Tinggi, Klang.

The Hindu god, Ganesha or Ganesh the elephant god is worshipped as the lord of success and destroyer of evil and obstacles. He is also regarded as the god of education, knowledge, wisdom and wealth.

In Sri Lanka, elephants holds a place of high esteem in their culture. You can see them in religious processions, in wars, as a mode of transportation, in the logging industry and also objects of pagentry.

Elephants are intelligent creatures. They are much loved in Asia and regarded as symbols of wisdom, strength, power and longevity. In Western cultures, elephants are regarded as exotic. A 'white elephant' would mean something expensive, useless and bizzare. But in Thailand, a white elephant is regarded as a holy animal. According to Buddhist scriptures, Buddha's mother, Queen Maya, dreamt that a white bull elephant with six white tusks and carrying a lotus in its trunk entered into her from the right side. She became pregnant and ten months later Prince Siddhartha was born. The elephant is regarded as one of the 7 treasures of Buddhism.

In feng shui, a pair of ceramic elephants is displayed inside the home or flanking both sides of entrances to attract good fortune. In Chinese culture, pictures of children seated on elephants depict good fortune. Childless women hang a picture of the elephant in the bedroom to increase their chances of getting a male child.

Do you have any elephants stories to share?

HAPPY DEEPAVALI!

This is my entry for That's My World Tuesday Season 3 Episode 4. MyWorld is the place where we become virtual tourists guides and show others the best of our world! To view what others have in their world, please visit here.