The Indian boar (''Sus scrofa cristatus''), also known as the Andamanese pig or

Moupin Muping Town is a town and the county seat of Baoxing County in Sichuan province of southwest China. In the late 1800s, under its alternative rendering Moupin, it developed a reputation for biodiversity among western naturalists, so a number of spec ...

pig,Lydekker, R. (1900),
The great and small game of India, Burma, & Tibet
', London : R. Ward, pp. 258-266 is a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

native to India, Nepal, Myanmar, western Thailand, and Sri Lanka The Indian boar differs from its European counterpart by its large mane which runs in a crest along its back from its head to lower body, larger, more sharply featured and straighter skull, its smaller, sharper ears and overall lighter build.Sterndale, R. A. (1884),
Natural history of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon
', Calcutta : Thacker, Spink, pp. 415-420 It is taller and more sparsely haired than the European form, though its back bristles are much more developed. The tail is also more tufted, and the cheeks hairier.Jerdon, T. C. (1874),
The mammals of India; a natural history of all the animals known to inhabit continental India
', London, J. Wheldon, pp. 241-244 Adults measure from in shoulder height (with one specimen in

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

having reached 38 inches) and five feet in body length. Weight ranges from . The animal has interacted with humans in India since at least the

Upper Paleolithic The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories coin ...

, with the oldest depiction being a cave painting in Bhimbetaka,Mayer, John J., "Wild Pig Attacks on Humans" (2013). Wildlife Damage Management Conferences – Proceedings. Paper 151. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/icwdm_wdmconfproc/151 and it occasionally appears in

Vedic mythology The historical Vedic religion (also known as Vedicism, Vedism or ancient Hinduism and subsequently Brahmanism (also spelled as Brahminism)), constituted the religious ideas and practices among some Indo-Aryan peoples of northwest Indian Subco ...

. A story present in the

Brāhmaṇas The Brahmanas (; Sanskrit: , ''Brāhmaṇam'') are Vedic śruti works attached to the Samhitas (hymns and mantras) of the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas. They are a secondary layer or classification of Sanskrit texts embedded within ea ...

has

Indra Indra (; Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is the king of the devas (god-like deities) and Svarga (heaven) in Hindu mythology. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes/ref> I ...

slaying an avaricious boar, who has stolen the treasure of the

asura Asuras (Sanskrit: असुर) are a class of beings in Indian religions, Indic religions. They are described as power-seeking clans related to the more benevolent Deva (Hinduism), Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhism, Buddhi ...

s, then giving its carcass to

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

, who offers it as a sacrifice to the gods. In the story in Vedic Hindu mythology, the boar is an avatar of

Brahma Brahma ( sa, ब्रह्मा, Brahmā) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the trinity of supreme divinity that includes Vishnu, and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 21 ...

and has raised the earth from the primeval waters during creation. In the

Rāmāyaṇa The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages ...

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

and the

Purāṇa Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...

s, another boar (

Varaha Varaha ( sa, वराह, , "boar") is an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, in the form of a boar. Varaha is generally listed as third in the Dashavatara, the ten principal avatars of Vishnu. Varaha is most commonly associated with the lege ...

) is an

avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearanc ...

of Vishnu that kills Hiranyaksha and saves Bhumi.Macdonell, A. A. (1898),
Vedic Mythology
', Motilal Banarsidass Publ., p. 41

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q3978213 Mammals described in 1839 Suidae Mammals of India Mammals of Nepal Mammals of Myanmar Mammals of Thailand Mammals of Sri Lanka Wild boars

See also

References

External links