We have heard stories of how Shiva beheaded his father-in-law Daksha Prajapati and replaced Daksha’s head with that of a goat and how he beheaded his son Ganesha and replaced Ganesha’s head with that of an elephant. We have also heard folk stories of how devotees offer their head as a sacrifice to the goddess Durga, who then, replaces the head and then blesses the devotee. These stories come from the Puranic tradition and are about 1,500 years old.

However, a thousand years before that, in the Vedic tradition, we find similar stories. Rishi Dadichi’s human head was replaced with a horse’s head by the Ashwini Kumars so that he could reveal secrets of rejuvenation Indra would not share. When Dadichi revealed the secret the horse’s head burst into a thousand pieces. Then the Ashwini Kumars placed back his human head. Ashwins had learnt this secret from Chyavana Rishi. Chayavana was an ancient sage associated with Ayurvedic surgery. This leads many people to speculate that ancient Indians knew the art of head transplantation.