Worshipping animals and regarding them as sacred has been a popular and age-old religious ritual in various cultures throughout the world. This widespread tradition of zoolatry (animal worship) considers certain animals as deities. Known to be possessing divine characteristics, these sacred animals depict a significant aspect of humanity in the legends and mythologies.
Sometimes as a mount (vahana) of a deity and sometimes as an animal transformation, glorification of certain animals is prevalent in different world religions such as Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism, and others.
The elephant is regarded as the symbol of strength, royalty, serenity, and wisdom and so is the Hindu elephant-god Ganesha. Lord Ganesha highly revered among the Hindu worshippers.
