White elephant (animal)

Although often depicted as snow white, their skin is typically a soft reddish-brown, turning a light pink when wet.

[5] In Hindu puranas, the vehicle or mount of god Indra (Sakra in the Buddhist pantheon) is the white elephant named Airāvata, which possesses the ability to fly.

[7] Consequently, Airāvata is depicted as a sacred white elephant, typically with four tusks in India and sometimes with five heads in Southeast Asia.

Śakra), the chief deva of Mount Meru, and the concept of kingship, namely the ideal 'universal monarch' (chakkavatti, cf.

'[11][15] The discovery and receipt of white elephants by royal courts featured prominently in indigenous chronicles.

[8] In the pre-colonial era, the discovery of a white elephant was considered a cosmic endorsement of the reigning monarch.

[8] They are traditionally graded based on characteristics called kyan-in lekkhana (ကြန်အင်လက္ခဏာ), including their tusks, back, ears, eyes, toenails, skin, and tail.

As of 2023[update], Myanmar possesses ten captive white elephants, which are in the custody of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation's Forest Department.

[19] Burmese white elephants are kept in inhumane conditions, shackled for 22 hours a day and housed in small open-air pavilions.

[20][21][22] In 2009, the military regime began printing 5000 Myanmar kyat banknotes that feature an image of a white elephant, widely seen as an act of yadaya.

[4] In 2013, Thai prime minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul asked the Burmese government to temporarily lend a white elephant and house it at Chiang Mai Zoo for 6 months, in order to mark 65 years of bilateral relations between the two countries.

[4][24][25][26] Special postage stamps and gold commemorative coins featuring the elephant were produced to mark the 2023 Independence Day celebrations.

According to al-Tabari, a white elephant killed the commander of the Arab Muslims Abu Ubayd al-Thaqafi in the Battle of the Bridge.

[34] In English, the term "white elephant" has come to mean a spectacular and prestigious thing that is more trouble than it is worth, or has outlived its usefulness to the person who has it.