Laos Elephants

laos elephants="laos elephants"
What does the Three headed Elephants mean?

What does it mean?i wanted to make sure i got the meaning rite..cause i planing to get a tattoo on it to show my represent my culture..my mom told me it mean Freedom in laos..but if i go to laos with that tattoo i get shot...

"[Indra] rides a large, four-tusked white elephant called Airavata."

"In Buddhist and Jain texts, Indra is commonly called by his other name Śakra, ruler of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven. Śakra is, however, sometimes given the title Indra, or, more commonly, Devānām Indra, "Lord of the Devas"."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indra

"The eight guardian deities who preside over the eight points of the compass each sits on an elephant. Each of these deities has an elephant that takes part in the defense and protection of its respective quarter. Chief among them is Airavata of Indra. He is also called 'Ardha-Matanga', meaning "elephant of the clouds"; 'Naga-malla', meaning "the fighting elephant"; and 'Arkasodara', meaning "brother of the sun". 'Abharamu' is the elephant wife of Airavata. Airavata has four tusks and seven trunks and is spotless white."

"The connection of elephants with water and rain is emphasized in the mythology of Indra, who rides the elephant Airavata when he defeats Vritra. This mighty elephant reaches down his trunk into the watery underworld, sucks up its water, and then sprays it into the clouds, which Indra then causes to rain forth cool water, thereby linking the waters of the sky with those of the underworld. Airavata also stands at the entrance to Svarga, Indra's palace."

"Erawan (Thai: เอราวัณ) is the Thai name of Airavata. It is depicted as a huge elephant, having three, sometimes with 33 heads. The heads are often shown with more than two tusks. Some statues show the Hindu god Indra riding on Erawan."

"It is sometimes associated with the old Lao Kingdom of Lan Xang and the defunct Kingdom of Laos. They had used Erawan, more commonly known as "The three headed elephant" as their Royal Flag."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airavata

"The Lao kingdom of Lan Xang or Lan Ch'ang (Lao: "lâansâang : "million elephants") was established in 1354 by Somdetch Brhat-Anya Fa Ladhuraniya Sri Sadhana Kanayudha Maharaja Brhat Rajadharana Sri Chudhana Negara (otherwise known as Fa Ngum)."

"The "million elephants" of the kingdom's name was an allusion to his formidable war machine."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lan_Xang

See the flag of the Kingdom of Laos, a sovereign state from 1953 until December 1975 : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Laos_(1952-1975).svg

Elephant Riding in Laos


laos elephants