San Erdeni

San Erdeni in Lamaism, is one of the seven sacred objects which are placed before the idols in the temples of the Mongols, Kalmucks, and Tibetans. It represents a white elephant, an animal regarded with the utmost veneration by those peoples, insomuch that the loftiest title of the sovereigns of Burma, China, and India (the former "Great Mogul") is "lord of the white elephant," and bloody wars have been waged to secure it as an exclusive right.