Elephants and bulls are the prominent animals seen in the Indus Valley seals. Shiva Lingams are also seen. In one of the seals there is the figure of a naked yogi sitting in Padmasana (Lotus posture) with bracelets on his arms in yogic contemplation. He is surrounded by two antelopes an elephant, a tiger, a rhinoceros and a buffalo. Shiva is personified as a great yogi. He is also called Pasupathi which may mean lord of souls and/or lord of beasts and therefore the figure of the yogi in this seal may be surmised as the figure of Shiva. From the several objects found in the excavation of Mohanjodaro and Harappa it is surmised that Shiva was worshipped both in the anthropomorphic and the linga forms. Father Heras has demonstrated that the culture of the ancient Indus Valley was proto Dravidian. We do not know by what name Shiva was called by the people of the ancient Indus Valley and what was the status enjoyed by the elephant. The language spoken by the ancient Indus Valley people was something like Tamil can be proved by Brauhi spoken by the people of Kelat in Baluchistan. Brauhi tongue has its root in Tamil. Father Heras also said the ancient Dravidians worshipped a God called AN and this god came to be called Shiva or SIVAN in later times. In the Dravidian language the elephant is called ANA and in the light of the studies of Father Heras we can hazard a guess and say that this pachyderm was sacred to AN or at any rate a sacred animal.

The elephants seen in the several seals appear calm and docile inspite of their imposing appearance. They look just like the elephants kept in the Hindu temples for ceremonial purposes at the present time and it looks probable that keeping of elephants in places of worship for ceremonial purpose is a tradition that is being followed from the days of the prehistoric Indus Valley civilization. There may not be anything absurd if we say on ontological consideration that the genesis of Ganesha with his elephantine head can be traced to the entity represented as a yogi and the elephant seen by his side along with other animals in the above referred seal of the Indus Valley.

Ephom is another Indian name for elephant. Elephant is an English Word derived through Greek by adding the prefix 'EL' and the suffix 'Ant' to the 'ephom'. 'EL' is a primitive generic word for God in the semitic language. Even in the Dravidian language 'EL' or ELI' indicates God. Ellappan and Ellamman are the names of two Deities and still worshipped in South India, Ellappan being the Father Deity and Ellamman being the Mother Deity.