Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that answer the question.
Query: Which Indian god has the head of an elephant?
Although he is known by many attributes, Ganesha's elephant head makes him easy to identify.[8] Ganesha is widely revered as the remover of obstacles,[9] the patron of arts and sciences and the deva of intellect and wisdom.[10] As the god of beginnings, he is honoured at the start of rites and ceremonies. Ganesha is also invoked as patron of letters and learning during writing sessions.[11][2] Several texts relate mythological anecdotes associated with his birth and exploits and explain his distinct Ganesha likely emerged as a deity as early as the 2nd century CE,[12] but most certainly by the 4th and 5th centuries CE, during the Gupta period, although he inherited traits from Vedic and pre-Vedic precursors.[13] Hindu mythology identifies him as the restored son of Parvati and Shiva of the Shaivism tradition, but he is a pan-Hindu god found in its various traditions.[14][15] In the Ganapatya tradition of Hinduism, Ganesha is the supreme deity.[16] The principal texts on Ganesha include the Ganesha Purana, the Mudgala Purana, and the Ganapati Atharvashirsa. Brahma Purana and Brahmanda Purana are other two Puranic genre encyclopedic texts that deal with Ganesha.
Simlipal National Park is a protected wildlife area and tiger reserve spread over 2750 km of the northern part of Mayurbhanj district. It has 1078 species of plants, including 94 orchids. The sal tree is the primary tree species there. The park has 55 mammals, including barking deer, Bengal tiger, common langur, four-horned antelope, Indian bison, Indian elephant, Indian giant squirrel, Indian leopard, jungle cat, sambar deer, and wild boar. There are 304 species of birds in the park, such as the common hill myna, grey hornbill, Indian pied hornbill and Malabar pied hornbill. It also has 60 species of reptiles, notable among which are the king cobra and tricarinate hill turtle. There is also a mugger crocodile breeding program in nearby Ramtirtha.
The Chandaka Elephant Sanctuary is a 190 km protected area near the capital city, Bhubaneswar. However, urban expansion and over-grazing have reduced the forests and are driving herds of elephants to migration. In 2002, there were about 80 elephants. But by 2012, their numbers had been reduced to 20. Many of the animals have migrated toward the Barbara reserve forest, Chilika, Nayagarh district, and Athagad. Some elephants have died in conflicts with villagers, while some have died during migration from being electrocuted by power lines or hit by trains. Outside the protected area, they are killed by poachers. Besides elephants, the sanctuary also has Indian leopards, jungle cats and chitals.
It has been suggested that some animals, such as the orangutan and Indian elephant, lack a ligamentum teres. However, the presence of a ligamentum teres, albeit with a morphology different to the human version, has been found upon dissection in both these animals. In the orangutan, it is believed to play a significant role in preventing dislocation of the femoral head within extreme ranges of motion. In the Indian elephant, it is the primary support of the hip joint when the hind limbs are abducted.
Indeed, even all gods demand Shiva to make Ganesha alive in light of a legitimate concern for the universe, it is anyway difficult to restore ruler Ganesha in a similar shape, yet Shiva educates that another head can be joined to Ganesha's body He further says that before nightfall if any creature will surrender its head, that head ought to be brought and settled. 'Gajasura' is an elephant that Shiva-doots go over, since that time ruler Ganesha is otherwise called elephant headed God and consistently on AKSHAY TRITIYA the promising day is commended as Ganesha Mahotashav .
The elephant plays an important part in the culture of the subcontinent and beyond, being featured prominently in the Panchatantra fables and the Buddhist Jataka tales. They play a major role in Hinduism: the god Ganesha's head is that of an elephant, and the "blessings" of a temple elephant are highly valued. Elephants are frequently used in processions where the animals are adorned with festive outfits.
Anderson takes an American tourist to the Mysore area to photograph Indian wildlife, and whilst there they encounter a rogue black elephant which had reportedly killed locals. Anderson and the tourist have a narrow escape with the elephant, and later heads back out to track and kill it. The story ends with the black elephant coming to an unexpected and sad end, which leaves Anderson feeling sympathy for the rogue despite its actions.
This is the only known battle in which African and Asian elephants were used against each other. Due to Polybius' descriptions of Antiochus' Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), brought from India, as being larger and stronger than Ptolemy's African elephants, it had once been theorized that Ptolemy's elephants were in fact the African forest elephant ("Loxodonta cyclotis"), a close relative to the African bush elephant ("Loxodonta africana")--a typical African bush elephant would tower over an Asian one, meaning that the smaller forest elephant would be a better fit with Polybius' descriptions. However recent DNA research has revealed that most likely, Ptolemy's elephants were in fact "Loxodonta africana", albeit culled from a population of more diminutive African bush elephants still found in Eritrea today. Another possibility is that Ptolemy utilized the now extinct North African elephants (Loxodonta africana pharaoensis). Much smaller than their Indian or Bush cousins, members of this subspecies were typically around 8 foot high at the shoulder. Regardless of origin, according to Polybius, Ptolemy's African elephants could not bear the smell, sound, and sight of their Indian counterparts. The Indian's greater size and strength easily routed the Africans.
The "Vatapi Ganapatim" hymn is composed in Sanskrit, the language of several Hindu scriptures, by Muthuswami Dikshitar. Dikshitar praises Vatapi Ganapati, as the elephant-headed god, who grants boons. The universe and the elements are said to be created by Ganesha. Ganesha is described as the remover of obstacles. He is worshipped by the sage Agastya and the god Vishnu. He resides in the Muladhara chakra and exists in four kinds of speech – Para, Pashyanti, Madhyama and Vaikhari. The sacred Om is said to be his body. Ganesha's iconography is described. He has an elephant-head and curved trunk. The crescent moon adores his forehead. He holds a sugarcane in his left hand. He also carries a "pāśa" (noose), a pomegranate fruit, a guava fruit and other things. He has a large body. This form pleases his father Shiva and brother Kartikeya. The last line notes that Ganesha is pleased with the Hamsadhvani raga, indicating the raga in which the composition should be sung.
When we read the Purana, we are amazed at how all incidents in the past come together and lead towards a chosen destiny. The flower was presented to Indra by Sage Durvasa but not utilized by the King of Gods. The elephant temporarily benefited from the powers of the Parijata flower, but it was Lord Ganesha who was destined to be the foremost among Gods and men and known as the remover of obstacles. Thus destiny worked in a way that the attributes of the flower accumulated by the austerities of Sage Durvasa came to Lord Ganesha and that is the reason he has an elephant head.
In the Indian state of Kerala, elephants are decorated during temple festivals. They wear a distinctive golden head covering called a "nettipattam," which is often translated into English as an elephant caparison. However, it covers only the head, not the body, as in a horse caparison.
From the 3rd century on by the Northern Wei, accompanying the spread of Buddhism in China, strong influences from the Indian subcontinent penetrated the Chinese indigenous religion. A cult of Ganesha (象頭神 "Xiàngtóushén", "Elephant-Head God") is attested in the year 531. Pollination from Indian religions included processions of carts with images of gods or floats borne on shoulders, with musicians and chanting.
After the devas were defeated, the trinity, the controller, preserver and destroyer of the universe launched an attack against Ganesha. Amidst the fighting, Shiva severed the head of the child and brought on Parvathi's rage. Seeing her son dead, Parvathi revealed her true self, as the Adi-shakti, the prime energy that fuels the universe and sustains matter. Taking on a terrible form, she vowed to destroy the universe where her son was killed and re-create a better one. The gods prostrated before her and Shiva promised that her son will live again. The trinity hunted the world for a head and came across a mother elephant crying for her dead baby. They consoled the mother and fixed the head of the baby elephant in place of Ganesha's head. Lord Shiva also declared that from this day, the boy would be called as "Ganesha" ("Gana-Isha": lord of the Ganas). In this way, Ganesha came to be depicted as the elephant-headed god.
Persians used war elephants at the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC. The battle raged between king Alexander the Great of Macedon and king Darius III of Persia. The Persians had 15 Indian-trained war elephants, which were placed at the centre of the Persian line, and they made such an impression on the Macedonian troops that Alexander felt the need to sacrifice to the God of Fear the night before the battle. Despite this the Persians lost the battle, relinquishing the Achaemenid empire to Alexander.
The Elephant Festival is considered one of the most popular and celebrated events in the city of Jaipur. Since the festival was introduced, the ceremony has managed to attract a variety of outsiders to the festive event. Elephants symbolize royalty according to the traditions of Rajasthan. The Elephant is also believed to be associated with [Buddhism] and [Jainism]. In fact, the elephant itself has a historical significance in Indian traditions. According to Indian Mythology, gods and the demons stirred the ocean, in the hopes that they would become eternal. Suddenly, nine jewels also known as the “navratnas” surfaced from the ocean. Of the nine jewels that reappeared, one of them was an elephant. Since then, the elephant has been regarded as a precious animal.
Thiruvadanai is one of the many temple towns in the state which is named after the grooves, clusters or forests dominated by a particular variety of a tree or shrub and the same variety of tree or shrub sheltering the presiding deity. The region is believed to have been covered with Vilva forest and hence called Vilvavanam. Legend has it that Vaaruni, the son of Varuna, the God of rain who was cursed by a Sage to have an elephant's body and a goat's head, regained his normal form after worshiping Shiva at this temple. The name of the town is believed to have been derived from this mythological incident("Thiru"- sacred; "Adu"- goat; "Aanai"- elephant; "Thiru Adanai"- the sacred place, where the goat-headed-elephant regained his original form).
Indian elephants have smaller ears, but relatively broader skulls and larger trunks than African elephants. Toes are large and broad. Unlike their African cousins, their abdomen is proportionate with their body weight but the African elephant has a large abdomen as compared to the skulls.
Elephant-headed females appearing in the "Puranas" are demonesses or cursed goddesses. In a tale about Ganesha's birth, the elephant-headed demoness Malini gives birth to Ganesha after drinking the bath-water of Parvati, Ganesha's mother. In "Skanda Purana", Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, is cursed to have an elephant head, which she gets rid of by pleasing the god Brahma by penance. These are not called Vinayaki and are remotely linked to Ganesha as a mother (Malini) or a consort (Lakshmi in some icons). The "Harivamsa", "Vayu Purana" and "Skanda Purana" also describe elephant-faced Matrikas ("Mothers"), "graha"s (seizers) and "gana"s, who bear names like Gajananā ("elephant-faced"), Gajamukhi ("elephant-faced") and Gajasya ("elephantine"). However, Krishan relates these Matrikas to Jyeshtha, the goddess of misfortune who is described as elephant-faced.
Elephants can also represent the hugeness and wildness of the imagination, as in Ursula Dubosarsky's 2012 children's book, "Too Many Elephants in This House", which also plays with the notion of the elephant in the room. An imaginary elephant can (perhaps) become real, as with the elusive Heffalump. Although never specified as an elephant in A. A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh stories, a heffalump physically resembles an elephant; and E. H. Shepard's illustration shows an Indian elephant. ""Heffalump"" has since been defined as "a child's term for an elephant."
The Chintamani Temple of Theur is a Hindu temple dedicated to Ganesha, the elephant-headed god of wisdom. Located from Pune, the temple is "one of the larger and more famous" of the Ashtavinayaka, the eight revered shrines of Ganesha in the Indian state of Maharashtra.
In general, Asian elephants are smaller than African elephants and have the highest body point on the head. The tip of their trunk has one finger-like process. Their back is convex or level. Indian elephants reach a shoulder height of between , weigh between , and have 19 pairs of ribs. Their skin color is lighter than of "maximus" with smaller patches of depigmentation, but darker than of "sumatranus". Females are usually smaller than males, and have short or no tusks.
The Buddhist tradition states that Buddha came into the womb of his mother in the form of an elephant having six tusks. According to Jaina tradition, each of the mother of the twenty-four thirthankars dreamt of fourteen auspicious objects, which included an elephant. 
In Hinduism, Ganesh, a god with the elephant’s head has been an object of reverence and worship for more than two millennia. He is therefore called as Gajanan(Gaj=elephant, aanan= faced). Several deities and mythological figures have elephants as their conveyance (vahan) including Balarama, Skanda and aiyanar. 
The largest Indian elephant was high at the shoulder. In 1985, two large elephant bulls were spotted for the first time in Bardia National Park, and named "Raja Gaj" and "Kanchha". They roamed the park area together and occasionally visited female herds. "Raja Gaj" stood tall at the shoulder and had a massive body weight. His forehead and domes were more prominent than in other Asian bull elephants. His appearance has been compared to that of a Stegodon and mammoth due to his high bi-domed shaped head.
The name Tiruvadanai or Thiruvadanai is believed to have originated from an ancient myth associated with the town. Legend has it that Vaaruni, the son of Varuna, the God of rain who was cursed by a Sage to have an elephant's body and a goat's head, regained his normal form after worshiping Shiva at this temple. The name of the town is believed to have been derived from this mythological incident(Thiru- sacred; Adu- goat; Aanai- elephant; Thiru Adanai- the sacred place, where the goat-headed-elephant regained his original form).
Ganesh Chaturthi is a three-day Hindu festival celebrated to honour the elephant-headed God Ganesha's birthday. He is the younger son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.
Ganesha is known by 108 different names and is the Lord of arts and sciences and the deva of wisdom. He is honoured at the start of rituals and ceremonies as he's considered the God of beginnings. He's widely and dearly referred to as Ganapati or Vinayaka. 
There are two different versions about Ganesha's birth. One has it that Goddess Parvati created Ganesha out of dirt off her body while having a bath and set him to guard her door while she finishes her bath. Shiva who has gone out, returned at that time, but as Ganesha didn't know of him, stopped him from entering. An angry Shiva severed the head of Ganesha after a combat between the two. Parvati was enraged and Shiva promised Ganesha will live again. The devas who went in search of a head facing north of a dead person could manage only the head of an elephant. Shiva fixed the elephant's head on the child and brought him back to life.
The other legend has it that Ganesha was created by Shiva and Parvati on request of the Devas, to be a vighnakartaa (obstacle-creator) in the path of rakshasas (demonic beings), and a vighnahartaa (obstacle-averter) to help the Devas.
The Life Giving Lotus: The story of the birth of Ganesha is a popular one. On Parvati's request Brahma created Brahma Kamal, with whose
help Shiva placed the head of an elephant on to the body of Ganesha. When Shiva attached the head of an elephant on Ganesha' s body, he was bathed with water that was sprinkled from a Brahma Kamal. That is why this lotus is given the status of a life-restoring flower of the gods. To evaluate it in terms of modern science, this flower has many medicinal properties.