Bronze Elephant Madhuchista Vidhana Panchaloha Bronze from Swamimalai.By no small virtue do we appreciate what elephants represent for Hinduism today. As the bastion of intelligence, sensitivity, loyalty, strength, determination, regality, and power, elephants have occupied a sacred position in the Indian subcontinent. Of course, our most famous example comes from the manifestation of the elephant-headed god Ganesha. However, it is to the testament of the animal’s majestic might that its presence has been traced right back to the earliest Puranas, as is witnessed in Airavata, the divine king of elephants who later becomes the mount of Indra. Airavata is said to have helped Indra in defeating the dragon serpent Vritra, and moreover participated in the grand ‘samudra manthan.’At almost every major turn in Indian history bronze idols from the Indus Valley settlements, punch marked coins from the Mauryans and Satvahanas, motifs of the Pandya, Kongani, Chera, Gajapati kings, and subject matters of of Mithila and Pahari paintings – elephants have been famously featured. That in itself makes this bronze image created with a pedestal on its back, an object of great value.