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Some glimpses (photos) into the Temple Elephants of Kerala (I have posted the link to the photos at the bottom of this article.. but before that a brief introduction to those unfamiliar with this topic) Asiatic Elephants have been intricately involved in the temple culture of Southern Bhaarath (India), esp in the state of Kerala since time immemorial. Temple festival celebrations almost all the time involve elephants, esp prime Asiatic Bulls, decked in finest pageantry. The bulls are carefully selected for this purpose, based on their Aana-Chandam (which in Malayalam, the state language of Kerala means elephant aesthetics. Aana means elephant and Chandam means beauty. Indeed, there are competitions in this regard where the bulls are judged on their looks which involve the dimensions of their forehead, color of their eyes, the length of the trunk, tail and other aspects like their tusks, shape of the body etc. Other aspects like their character, demeanor, tractability, and their ability to execute mahout commands with alacrity also come into play here. A big emphasis is placed on polite behavior towards humans and other elephants. Recently, a bull named Raamachandran, possessing arguably the finest Aana-Chandam in these parts, was not conferred the title at a premier pageant event only because he was a bull with a volatile temperament and had caused injuries to mahouts. He was also known to pick frequent quarrels with other temple bulls and had seriously injured one in a fight) Kizhakkencheri is a small village in Kerala that has a very ancient Ganesha temple held very sacred by many. Here, they have an annual festival called the Theru (Chariot) which is held on the 25th of December and through to the 26th every year. Every year, the Theru containing the idol of Lord Ganesha is dragged by a sea of human devotees along the main street of the village and this happens on every 26th of December. But before that, a majestic elephant procession is held beginning the previous evening on the 25th of December to herald the festival. The procession begins at around 10PM and goes on through the night. After a brief period of rest at dawn, the festivities and procession again begin at daytime the next day. Top bulls from across the state are selected for these procession duties and this year three magnificent 60 years old plus were selected for this job. Temple elephant bulls are always named after the various Hindu Gods by their mahouts. Their names usually consist of 2 parts. The first part indicates the place, usually the temple from where they are usually based and the second part of the name is their own which is often the names of various Hindu Gods. The three stately bulls selected for this year were, Maangulam-Kunnu Ganapathi (Maangulam-Kunnu is the place where the bull is based and Ganapathi is the name of the bull. Ganapathi is also another name for Lord Ganesha, the elephant headed God), Ezutthacchen Srinivaasan (Srinivaasan is also another name for the Hindu God Vishnu), and Kongaadu Kutti-Shankaran (Kutti stands for little and Shankaran stands for the Hindu God Shiva). All these 3 bulls are very experienced in the matters of temple processions and are also winners of many Aana-Chandam contests. The bull Ganapathi has also won the coveted and prestigious title of Gaja-raajan meaning elephant king (Gaja = elephant Raajan = king) which is the highest Aana-Chandam title conferred by the State of Kerala. Aana-Chandam is a science and art by itself, practiced and handed down over the generations by top mahouts. Coming back to the festival, the bulls arrived on the noon of the 25th and were well fed and watered at a small wooded grove in the village (There are strict laws passed by the Kerala state government to ensure that the bulls do not come to even the slightest of discomfort. Else there are SEVERE penalties in the offing to all concerned and connected). Come evening, the bulls were bathed by their mahouts and then decorated for the procession. The procession is one big crescendo of drums, trumpets, and cymbals, but amazingly temple bulls maintain tremendous serenity in all this human noise and are an epitome of polite behavior. Seeing is definitely believing in this case. For me there was an electrifying moment this year (I have been visiting here for the past 2 years as Kizhakkancheri is my wife's ancestral village). I had gone to the wooded grove where the bulls were resting before the procession and I was particularly transfixed by the majesty of the bull Srinivaasan as he was feeding. And by this time, the third bull Ganapathi goaded by his mahout was entering the grove and coming my way and I noticed him only when he had come very close to me: I was alerted to give way by a shout from his mahout.. ... I turned and was electrified by the towering presence of the bull looming at almost hand's length and waiting politely for me to give way. It is amazing as to how these giants move with such serene silence, on the same paths where humans are almost always clumsy and noisy. The photos can be seen at: http://s277.photobucket.com/albums/kk74/omsriguru1/Kerala%20Temple%20Ele... The photos can also be viewed as a slide show at The captions will explain things to U as to what is happening.. Dr. Sivaram Hariharan |
A few more concluding words about temple elephants.
Thu, 2011-12-29 14:02 by sivaram
Just wanted to mention that the temple elephants of Kerala should not be looked at as one looks at zoo elephants or circus elephants performing tricks for their audiences. The temple bulls of Kerala are highly venerated animals by one and all and even though they are under the constant supervision of their mahouts, they live life on their own terms. Each of these proud & magnificent bulls have their own unique personality traits but maintain the utmost of decorum in public.
Here I will also take this opportunity to mention a legendary temple bull in the annals of Kerala temple history: Guruvayoor Keshavan (1904-1976). He was an extraordinary bull when it came to Aana-Chandam and even more so when it came to memory and intelligence. His intelligence was at par with a full grown adult human and he was well versed in the Malayalam language. When I say well versed, he could understand the language word to word except that he could not vocalize it. He was also extraordinary when it came to polite behavior and was a truly gentle giant. But he had an unique trait that he always insisted on being the chief bull during procession duties.
Story goes that once he was called for procession duties to a nearby temple town. But he was not given the duties of the Chief Bull. This made Keshavan very angry and he immediately stormed out of the place without his mahout back to his hometown Guruvayoor 30 Kms away. But even in his anger, he made sure that he did not hurt any living being along the way and obeyed all traffic rules even without his mahout to guide him. Only after his mahout pleaded with him and promised him that he will be the chief bull did Keshavan relent.
He also made sure that he intimated his mahout in advance whenever he was to come in the annual musth cycle. He used to volunteer to be isolated and chained for the duration of the period, such was his concern for the well being of others. Never did he hurt any human or other bulls throughout his life and after his death, the Kerala Govt honored him with a giant statue in front of the Guruvayoor temple Southern entrance.
A word about Aana Chandam Contests
Thu, 2011-12-29 08:03 by sivaram
Aana-Chandam, as I have mentioned above in the original posting, is not the ideal Asian Bull looks alone.
It is also about character and being polite. Recently, a ball named Raamachandran was not awared the
title of Gaja-Raajan (Gaja = elephant Raajan = king) in spite of being the most good looking Asiatic
Bull in these parts. It was because of his rough nature and history of past violence against mahouts and other temple elephants.
About the temple bulls themselves: These should in NO WAY be mistaken akin to circus elephants performing tricks for audiences. These are proud creatures with unique life history and personality traits of their own. No doubt, they are constantly monitored by their mahouts, but they are elephants that live life on their own terms and are highly venerated by humans in these parts.
One of the greatest bulls in Kerala temple elephant folklore was the one and only inimitable legend: Guruvayoor Keshavan (1904-1976), the chief bull of the famous Guruvayoor temple. Virtually unbeatable at Aana-Chandam competitions, he was an extraoridinary bull, esp when it came to his demeanor and polite nature and endowed with the intelligence of an adult human. He was very proficient in understanding the Malayalam language like any normal human. But even more extraordinary was his dedication to his job. Whenever he attended any festival, he insisted that he be the chief bull carrying the procession idol on his back.
Once, when he was hired out for a nearby temple town for procession duties, Keshavan was not made the chief bull status. This made the bull very angry and he stormed all the way back to his home ele-stable at Guruvayoor; a journey of 30 Kms. But he was quite composed even in his anger. He made sure that he did not harm any other living being on the road and also made sure to obey all the traffic rules. He is the only elephant on record to indicate to his mahout about the oncoming of his musth and request to be chained during this period. He NEVER had even a token injury inflicted on his mahouts and was a bull of extraordinary politeness.
More info on this extra-ordinary bull can be got on:
http://www.elephant-kerala.com/Guruvayoor%20Kesavan.htm
Re: Apologies for posting same comment twice.
Fri, 2011-12-30 08:09 by sivaram
Apologies for the two set of comments to be posted twice by mistake. The first comment I had made,
did not appear immediately and I thought that the posting had failed to post...
The comments got posted twice albeit in different wordings,,, the theme is the same in those
two sets of comments.
Delete one
Fri, 2011-12-30 21:16 by admin
You can edit or delete your comments.
The reason why your comment did not appear immediately is that it contained a link. Comments with links have to be approved first, which is a manual process.
Unable to delete
Sat, 2011-12-31 07:16 by sivaram
Editor-Sir:
I'm unable to find the delete option for the comments.
The Edit option is working only for the main posting.
Thanks
Dr. Sivaram
Sorry for this
Sat, 2011-12-31 10:03 by admin
The function does not work as expected. You, like every registered user, should be able to edit and delete your own comments, but the function disappeared with a recent software update.
It turns out that this is a known defect in one of the modules we use here, which is already repaired and in testing. It may take a while until the fixed version is released. Technical details
Since the module in question is critical to our operation I prefer not to install a development/test version in our active environment, so unfortunately we will have to live with this defect for another while.
Meanwhile, if you want to have a comment deleted, please ask me. Please note that deleting a comment will also delete all replies that relate directly or indirectly to that comment, i.e. the branch under that comment. I will try to make sure that nothing of importance gets inadvertently deleted.
Re:
Sat, 2011-12-31 14:16 by sivaram
No problems editor-sir. We would then just leave this one as it is for now. Maybe, when this gets fixed at a later point of time and
provided there is still enough interest in this thread, we may reconsider this.
Many Thanks Sir & a very happy 2012 for U, as well as the rest of the staff there, & our beloved Amboseli matriarch CM
and all her herds.
(isn't CM the matriarch of ALL THE HERDS at Amboseli because of her dedication and commitment and the mother
of all matriarchs because of her care and concern for ALL the herds. So this title of MATRIARCH OF AMBOSELI is
indeed very very apt for her. From now on why don't we lovingly refer to CM as the matriarch of Amboseli or just matriarch.
I hope she likes this title as well.)
Provided the world does not come to an end on Dec 21 2012 :-):-) we could all enjoy more elephant time in 2013
and the years beyond. :-)
Regs
Dr. Sivaram