Elephants in festivals
Almost all[citation needed] of the local festivals in Kerala include at least one richly caparisoned elephant. Elephants carry the deity during annual festival processions and ceremonial circumnambulations in the Hindu temples. The temple elephants are decorated with gold plated caparisons ("nettipattam"), bells, and necklaces. People mounted on the elephants hold tinselled silk parasols ("muttukuda") up high, swaying white tufts ("vencamaram") and peacock feather fans ("alavattam") to the rhythm of the orchestra. Seventeen elephants are engaged for the daily ceremonial rounds to the accomplishment of Pancari Melam in Kudalmanikyam temple. The headgear of seven of these elephants is made of pure gold and rest of pure silver, which is unique to this temple.
Elephants in history and legends of Kerala
Caring for elephants
- Reghawan: Those who use love to control their elephants.
- Yukthiman: Those who use ingenuity to outsmart them.
- Balwan: Those who control elephants with cruelty.
Cruelty against elephants
Ownership of elephant is considered as a feudal status symbol and around 700 elephants are owned by people and temples. These elephants are rented out for more than 10,000 festivals and processions in which a single elephant may generate revenue up to $5000 a day according to their status.[7] These animals have to endure long and noisy parades, loud firecrackers, may need to stand near flames, travel long distances in open shabby vehicles and walk on tarred roads in the scorching sun for hours, denying even food, water and sleep, in the name of religion and tourism promotion.[7][8] They are often abused by drunk and brutal mahouts. Around half of the mahouts are found to have drinking problems.[7] January to April are the cruelest months for the captive elephants in Kerala when the places of worship celebrates various annual festivals.[8]Elephant Biologist V Sridhar accuses, the temple boards of being greedy and co-ercing aggressive elephants not suited to such tasks by going to the extent of hobbling them even with spike chains on their forelegs. He further claims that due to the increasing work load, elephants in their prime (20–40 years of age) seem to be dying prematurely.[9] He suspects that increase in death toll - due to intestinal obstruction and other digestive problems - is indicative of potential increase in physiological and psychological stress.[10] He also expresses his concerns on the lack of trained mahouts - to handle the huge increase of total elephants in captivity - which is a leading reason for the cruel mis-treatment of the animals[11] Further in his opinion, the process of taming an elephant was, historically, based on principles of dominance establishment, which needs revision by creating better awareness and training of Mahouts, but this process cannot happen overnight and it can only happen gradually.[12]
Further reports by Prem Panicker :
"Temple elephants… and what lies beneath". Peepli.org. Prem Panicker. August 18, 2015. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
Guruvayur’s elephants are housed in the grounds surrounding Punnathur Kotta - an approximately 11 acres ground – too small a space to adequately house the population of between 50-60 elephants Guruvayur owns at any given point in time. Since the acreage is limited, the elephants not participating in any of the temple rituals at a given point in time are leg-shackled to keep them from intruding into each other’s domain and equally, to ensure the safety of visitors ... Whatever the reason, the captivity is real, it is restrictive, and it is a problem for animals programmed to roam free, far and wide. The constant presence of the shackles creates festering sores — and while vets regularly attend to it, treatment can only be palliative; the shackles remain, and sores fester again.[13]
On 15 August 2015, Daily Mail released a report[14] by journalist Liz Jones that detailed the torture and cruelty of elephants at 'training camps' to break their spirit. However, her account is disputed by other eye-witness reports - who claim that, Liz Jones did not see any elephant being beaten and starved, as she had written.[15]
Elephant attacks
There is an alarming rise of man-animal conflict in crowded towns and cities, mostly believed to be happened because of maltreatment. During festivals elephants trampled and killed devotees in recent years. Kerala's Elephant Lovers' Association reports that in the period of 1998 - 2010 captive elephants have killed 212 people in Kerala - the majority of them mahouts. Wildlife authorities have warned that "fatal mishaps in public places at an alarming [rate have] become a threat to public life".[7]Famous captive elephants
Some famous captive elephants in Kerala are,- Thechikottukavu Ramachandran * Thrikkadavur Shivaraju
- Guruvayur Keshavan * Omallur Nandan
- Pambadi Rajan * Thiruvambady Shivasundar
- Guruvayur Padmanabhan * Thiruvambady Kuttyshankaran
- Chirrakkal Kalidasan * Mangalamkunnu Ganapathy
- Puthupally Keshavan * Pattathanam Keshavan
- Mangalamkunnu Ayyappan * Kongadu Kuttyshankaran
- Mangalamkunnu Karnan * Paramekkavu Sree Padmanabhan
- Cherpulassery Rajashekaran * Pullukulangara Ganeshan
- Cherpulassery Anandapadmanabhan * Athira Vinod
- Cherpulassery Parthan * Puthenkkulam Ananthapadmanabhan
- Pattath Sreekrishnan * Nayarambalam Ramankutty
- Thiruvanikkavu Rajagopal * Guruji Ayyappan
- Ethithanam Sree Guruvayurappan * Karuvanthala Kalidasan
- Ethithanam Sree Vishnunarayanan * Kallekulangara Rajashekaran
- Eratupetta Ayyappan * Chulliparambil Sooryan
- Chembuthra Devidasan * Chembukkavu Vijaykannan
- Thayankkavu Manikandan * Manissery Raghuram
- Chengallur Ranganathan * Thiruvambady Chandrashekaran
- Ootoly Ananthan * Nagerimana Keshavan
- Parannur Nandan * Nanu Ezhuthachchan Sreenivaasan
- Chulliparambil Vishnushankar * Kootannad Rajashekaran
- Guruvayur Valiyakeshavan * Akkikkavu Karthikeyan
Ornaments used for elephants
Main article: Caparison § Domesticated and Temple Elephants of India
One of the famous families in Thrissur District of Kerala, the Venkitadri family, has made ornaments for three generations, especially for the famous Thrissur pooram, the most famous of the Hindu temple-centred festivals. They make gold plated caparisons, umbrellas, 'alavattam, venchamaram, and necklaces. They decorate one hundred and fifty elephants with ornaments for temple festivals. Thrissur Pooram, Nenmara Vallangi Vela are some of the famous festivals in kerala in which more decorated elephants are used for procession. The main chamayam vendors are Paramekkavu devosom, venkidadri, maramittathu balachandran ( balan mashu).
