This story appears in the August 2013 issue of National Geographic magazine. The royalty of India—Hindu and Muslim—understood long ago that power was best wielded from the back of an elephant.

If you’ve ever taken a stroll through Guindy National Park, you know the routine. You pass the snakes coiled in their glass ...

The herd, an art installation of 100 life-sized Indian elephants called "The Great Elephant Migration," stand tall between 36 and 37 streets. The project was built by Elephant Family USA ...