Airavat is the big white elephant that appears during a thrilling aerial fight scene in the trailer of the movie Ramayana directed by Nitesh Tiwari. It is not just any other elephant; it is a divine elephant which serves as the mount of Lord Indra, the king of the gods. The trailer gives viewers a small insight into the grandiose of the mythological saga through this character.
According to Hindu mythology, Airavat is a magnificent white elephant who is also Lord of Deva Loka, Indra's mount. The sacred elephant is referred to by different names, including Ardha-Matanga, which translates into 'Elephant of the Clouds,' Naga-Malla, which means 'The Fighting Elephant,' and Arkasodara, which means 'Brother of the Sun.'
Airavat is referred to as the heavenly elephant that has unusual traits. According to some conventional narratives, Airavat is portrayed as an angelic white elephant with great strength and supernatural powers.
How was Airavat born?
The birth of Airavat is connected with Lord Brahma and Garuda, the sacred bird. There is one tale in which Lord Indra wishes to have an animal that can be his attendant. He wants someone who can act as an escort for him while travelling in heaven or while fighting.
On hearing this, Lord Brahma assured Lord Indra that he would be blessed with a beautiful elephant. Later, he invoked Garuda to bring forth a divine egg from which the divine animal could be born. Garuda delivered the sacred egg to Brahmaloka. This egg produced a loud noise, which awoke Lord Brahma. Lord Brahma performed holy rituals on the egg and uttered mantras. With the continuing mantras, the egg was broken, and a giant elephant came out of it.
The newborn elephant had four tusks and seven trunks. This animal was named Airavata by Brahma, who presented it to Lord Indra. It made Indra very happy, and he took this wonderful elephant as his constant steed.
Yet another legend connects Airavat with the well-known Samudra Manthan or the churning of the ocean by the gods and demons. Lord Indra once came to meet Sage Durvasa riding on Airavat. Sage Durvasa gave him a beautiful garland consisting of rare flowers. This garland had a sweet fragrance, and hence there were many bees around it. Instead of honouring the gift, Lord Indra hung it on the tusks of Airavat.
The bees were flying around the garland, annoying the elephant. He first ignored it, but at last, the elephant threw the garland away. As he saw the sacred gift getting ruined, Sage Durvasa got extremely angry. The sage cursed Indra and all the gods that they would lose their power and good luck.
Indra was taken aback by the curse and asked Durvasa to withdraw it. But the sage declined and said that the curse could never be undone. But he did give the Devas a way to restore their youthfulness and powers.
According to Durvasa, the Devas would become young again by drinking Amrut, the immortal divine nectar, which would come out of the churning of the ocean of milk.
Then Lord Vishnu suggested that the devas fight with the asuras. This marked the beginning of the famous churning of the ocean. Airavat became one of the jewels that were discovered at the churning of the milk ocean.
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