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Published: August 22nd 2006
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Self, with a young elephant and his keeper at the sanctuary!
This is an amazing place with all those noble elephants in a happy enviornment I recently made a visit to an elephant sanctuary, perhaps the only one of its kind in the world, here in Kerala. It is located in Trissur district near the famous Vishnu temple in ´Guruvayur´ and it houses nearly 63 elephants. The elephants of Kerala are an integral part of the daily life here. They are loved, revered, groomed and given a prestigious place in the state´s colorful culturespace. Unlike the elephants in the other parts of India and the rest of the world, here they are considered very beautiful and normally people buy these elephants looking at their ´lakshanam´ (qualities to be considered as good elephant), for example a good elephant should have a long trunk which almost touches the ground, the ideal elephant should be very tall etc. The elephants are also referred to as the ´Sons of Sahya (western ghats). Some of them are brought up as working elephants to lift or move big loads and also bring trees which are cut down in the forests. It’s reported that Kerala alone has a population numbering nearly 700. Just to underline the importance given to these noble and intelligent animals here in Kerala, one only has to look at
the various festivals of the state. Practically all of them will have at least one richly caparisoned elephant for the function. They are normally decorated with gold plated caparisons, colourful umbrellas, alavattom, venchamaram, necklaces etc during these festivals. Many Hindu temples here in Kerala have their own elephants. Most of them are donated by devotees. The famous temple in Guruvayur has more than 40 domesticated elephants and in order to look after them the governing body of the temple have constructed this elephant sanctuary in ´Punnthur Kotta´, 3 kms away from the temple itself. Here altogether nearly 63 elephants are housed. Most of them belong to the temple, and some to wealthy individuals including film stars, sportsmen and politicians. Some elephants are lethargic, some seem to be dancing to an inner tune and some others just relaxing in the safe haven of the sanctuary.
Without doubt it is a remarkable sight to see all these elephants together being looked after very well. People are coming in great numbers to the sanctuary from various parts of India and countries abroad to spend a few days’ elephant watching. There are artists who are here to draw portraits of these magnificent
animals, photographers to capture every movements of them. Each elephants have 3 mahouts called´ pappan´ in malayalam (Kerala´s language) to look after them. These animals are being looked after methodically in the sanctuary by these keepers - by bathing them, massaging them with small rocks or husk of coconuts and trimming their nails and polishing their tusks. These elephants at the sanctuary also systematically undergoes ayurvedic rejuvenation treatment by expert mahouts once every year and I was told that they (elephants) enjoy every second of it enormously. Without doubt any visitor to Kerala cannot afford to miss an opportunity like this to be in close proximity with one of the most intelligent and biggest mammals on land. The visiting time at the sanctuary is 8am - 5pm and the charge for visiting is just Rs 5 per adult.
I would like to conclude this report by saying something about the temple town of Guruvayur and paying tribute to the legendary "Guruvayur Kesavan", the most famous and majestic elephant of Guruvayur temple who sadly passed away in the 1980´s.Guruvayur is around 3 kms from the Arabian Sea Coast, 32 kms west of Trissur City and is approximately 95
Guruvayur temple near the sanctuary!
This is the entrance to the famous Krishna temple in Guruvayur. sadly photography is prohibited inside. kms away, north of Kochi. For Hindu´s from all over the World this is one of the most important temples of Kerala along with Shabarimala. Undoubtedly this is a place which smells ´ faith ´ in every nook and corner. Its the same faith of the thousands of devotees that transforms this incredible place into something far more powerful than just a temple town. When you reach the gates of the temple what welcomes you most of the time is a queue of people that has no apparent begining or end at all. It just stretches to eternity and inches forward at a mind-boggling pace of say six steps an hour or 8 if you are really lucky! Devotees are fully aware of the fact that this hours of waiting is only for a fleeting glimpse of their beloved Lord to be had but there is no hesitation for them to wait for that moment, however difficult it may be knowing fully well that how blissful it is going to be. Historical references dates the temple to 14th centuary. Legend says that its origin is timeless. It´s said that Guru (Teacher of the Gods) and Vayu (Lord of the Winds)
Guruvayur town near the sanctuary!
This is the statue of the legendary 'Guruvayur Kesavan' the most famous elephant who lived and died at the temple. rescued the child-size idol in the temple from a flood that submerged the legendary kingdom of Dwaraka. While looking for a holy spot to consecrate the idol, they came upon a place sanctified by Lord Shiva, who benevolently moved to a place called Mammiyur, vacating the place for Lord Krishna. At night with a thousand oil lamps lighting the temple there are performences of Krisnanattam a dance drama which narrates the story of Krishna. On the whole this is a memorable place indeed and no wonder devotees from all walks of life are queuing up together for divine blessing every day. Guruvayur Kesavan´s story is on the lips of every Keralite and has attained folklore status. He was gifted by the King of Nilambur to Lord Krishna, the deity at Guruvayur temple and was well known for his devotion to the Lord and was considered the ´King of Elephants´. If any of you reading this report is interested to know more about these wonderful elephants and the sanctuary feel free to contact me. I look forward to seeing you one day here at God´s Own Country.
Cheers,
Kris Kandath
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pauline
non-member comment
hi
sounds lovely how did you get there and is it open to public.we hope to go in jan