"The Indian elephant is rooted in art, ritual and tradition and it is revered in this country. Tara, the elephant Mark Shand made his own, symbolized that very versatility.Elephants were prominent in miniature paintings deftly crafted in the famed ateliers of the Mughal and Rajput courts. The skill of that art has been passed down generations and is alive even today. My elephant salutes that very fabled celebration of the Indian elephant through art and painting in a contemporary idiom though still drawing from the fine artisanal skills we still have in India today."
