Indra Riding Airavata - Khmer Relief

Description

On permanent display at the Denver Art Museum. Captured without a tripod in low light conditions. Airavata or Erawan is a mythological white elephant who carries the Hindu god Indra. It is also called 'abhra-Matanga', meaning "elephant of the clouds"; 'Naga-malla', meaning "the fighting elephant"; and 'Arkasodara', meaning "brother of the sun". Airavata has ten tusks and five trunks and is spotless white. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airavata) Indra is a Vedic deity in Hinduism, a guardian deity in Buddhism, and the king of first heaven called Saudharmakalpa in Jainism. He is the god of lightning, thunder, storms, rains and river flows. Indra is the most referred to deity in the Rigveda. - [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indra) Indra Riding His Royal Elephant (Airavata) Cambodia or Thiland Khmer Empire 925-950, Koh Ker Peroid Sandstone Anonymous Gift - 2000.220 David Romero - March 2017