Kerala Elephants Punnathoor Kotta

KERALA ELEPHANTS - PUNNATHOORKOTTA GURUVAYOOR KESAVAN

Elephants have been an integral part of cultural Kerala from time immemorial. These huge mammals have always been loved, revered, groomed and given a prestigious place in the state's culturescape.

Most joint families in the past owned elephants and their increasing number was considered a symbol of the family's status. But today only a handful of families own an elephant. The rest have entrusted these treasured possessions to the Devaswoms or temple managements owing to the degeneration of the joint family system and the rising cost of maintaining elephants.

Punnathoorkotta, the elephant camp of the Guruvayoor temple, has the maximum number of domesticated elephants in the State. Offering elephants to the deity was also a common practice. Today as part of the conservation programme elephant capturing is banned in the state.

Guruvayoor Kesavan is perhaps the most popular of the temple's pachyderms. Kesavan was donated to the Guruvayoor temple by the royal family of Nilambur in 1916 when he was five years old. There are many stories about this elephant which have become part of the legends of the land. In its natural habitat (the jungles), man and tigers are the enemies of wild elephant herds, but once they are captured and tamed, they become the gentle friends of their human owners. Their attitude, life and habits change. Elephants are at first slow in grasping the commands taught to them but once they do, they remember it for decades.

Hindus worship an elephant headed god - Ganapathy (the son of Lord Siva), hence elephants are also revered and considered a good omen by Keralites. These gentle beasts have the privilege of carrying the idols of gods during the temple festivals and processions. So during the festival season in Kerala (January - March) elephants can be frequently sighted with their mahouts on the highways. Earlier they were transported in lorries to distant temples, but this practice was banned a couple of years ago considering the comfort and safety of the beasts. Kodanad and Konni are the two places where elephants are trained and groomed.

The forests of Kerala are the natural habitats of the Asian elephant. ( Maximus indus). Elephants are of two types - the Asian and the African. Interestingly the pachyderm is not found in Australia. Some 300 species of mammals, the forerunners of the elephant are believed to have become extinct in the course of evolution.