India, Sept. 10 -- By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik - Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist

To understand why Ganesha is worshipped as the remover of obstacles and invoked before every Hindu ceremony, we must understand - and appreciate - the role elephants have played in Indian history and imagination.

Elephants are not merely large animals in India; they have shaped the way people thought about power, prosperity and opportunity.

Archaeological evidence indicates that elephants roamed both India and China approximately 4,000 years ago. The Harappan seals, dated around 1500 BCE, depict elephants, while oracle bones from China of the same period also record elephant symbols. Yet, the fate of elephants in the two civilisations was very diffe...