The Elephants of Kerala are an integral part of the daily life in Kerala, south India. These Indian elephants are loved, revered, groomed and given a prestigious place in the state's culturescape. Elephants in Kerala are often referred to as the 'sons of the sahya.' Kerala ( ; Malayalam: േകരളം; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of southwestern India. ... South India is a linguistic-cultural region of India that comprises the four Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Pondicherry, whose inhabitants are collectively referred to as South Indians. ... Trinomial name Elephas maximus indicus Cuvier, 1798 The Indian Elephant Elephas maximus indicus is a subspecies of the Asian Elephant primarily found in India. ... The Western Ghats or Sahyadri mountains run along the western edge of Indias Deccan Plateau, and separate the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. ...

Elephants in festivals

Elephants standing during Thrissur pooram festival in Kerala state of south India.

Elephants taking part in the Seeveli at Thripunithara Vrischikolsavam.

Almost all of the festivals in Kerala include at least one richly caparisoned elephant. Elephants carry the deity during annual festival processions and ceremonial circambulations in the temples. The temple elephants are decorated with gold plated caparisons (nettipattom), bells, necklaces. People mounted on top hold high tinselled silk parasols (muthukuda), swaying white tufts (venchamaram) and peacock feather fans (aalavattom) to the rhythm of the orchestra . Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 1352 KB) Summary Thrissur Pooram Festival (Kuda Mattam), Rajesh Kakkanatt Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 1352 KB) Summary Thrissur Pooram Festival (Kuda Mattam), Rajesh Kakkanatt Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Among the varieties of festivals celebrated in Kerala, Thrissur Pooram is the most thunderous, spectacular and dazzling. ... Kerala ( ; Malayalam: േകരളം; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of southwestern India. ... South India is a linguistic-cultural region of India that comprises the four Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Pondicherry, whose inhabitants are collectively referred to as South Indians. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... The image shows the decorated temple elephant at the Kamatchi temple Kanchipuram of Tamilnadu state. ... A necklace is an article of clothing or jewelry; which is worn around the neck. ...

Most of the Hindu temples in Kerala own elephants. Most of them are donated by devotees. The most famous Guruvayur temple in Kerala has more than 60 domesticated elephants and thus the Presiding Deity, Guruvayurappan is said to the Owner of World's largest number of Domesticated Elephants and they have constructed World's only Elephant Palace in Punnathur Kotta, 3 km from the temple for their elephants. One of the famous elephants named Guruvayur Keshavan was an elephant of this temple. Temples Categories: Temples in India | Temples in USA | Temples in Singapore | Temples in Malaysia | Temples in SriLanka | Hindu temples ... Lord Guruvayoorappan Guruvayoor Temple entrance The Guruvayoor Temple has a history dating back to the time of Shri Krishna. ... Elephant Sanctuary at Punnathur kotta, Guruvayoor. ... Guruvayur Kesavan with his mahouts. ...

Seventeen elephants are engaged for the daily ceremonial rounds to the accomplishment of Panchari Melam in the Koodalmanikyam Temple in which the head gears of seven elephants are made of pure gold and rest of pure silver which is a uniqueness of this temple. Panchari melam is a classic performance (melam) of different musical instruments that are unique to Kerala state in south India. ... Koodalmanikyam Temple and the big pond inside Koodalmanikyam Temple is the only Hindu temple in India where Bharata (Lord Sangameshwara), the brother of Sree Rama is worshiped. ...

Some famous festivals in Kerala are:

• Arattupuzha pooram
• Chinakkathoor pooram
• Nemmara Vallangi Vela
• Trichur Pooram
• Uthralikavu Vela
• Tripunithara Vrischikolsavam

Nemmara Vallengi Vela Nemmara Vela (festival) is famous for its fire works and the processions of richly caparisoned elephants its also known as Nellikkulangara Vela. ... // Thrissur Pooram Thrissur Pooram is the most colourful temple festival of Kerala, Thrissur Pooram attracts large masses of devotees and spectators from all parts of the State and even outside. ...

Elephants as Legends

Guruvayur Kesavan with his mahouts.

There are many elephants which have become part of the legends of the land. Aithihyamala (or a garland of historical anecdotes) by Kottarathil Sankunni has a few stories about elephants and their legend. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 448 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (601 × 804 pixel, file size: 140 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)Author :Unknown This image is a faithful digitalization of a unique historic photograph, and the copyright for it is most likely held by... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 448 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (601 × 804 pixel, file size: 140 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)Author :Unknown This image is a faithful digitalization of a unique historic photograph, and the copyright for it is most likely held by... Guruvayur Kesavan with his mahouts. ... A mahout is a person who drives an elephant. ... Kottarathil Sankunni is a well known author of Malayalam literature, born on 1855. ...

• Aranmula Valiya Balakrishnan
• Guruvayur Keshavan
• Paramelkavu Parameshwaran
• Thiruvambadi Chandrashekharan

Guruvayur Kesavan with his mahouts. ...

Elephants in captivity

Elephant help pull a tree

Kerala has more than 700 elephants in captivity. Most of them are owned by temples and individuals.^{[citation needed]} ImageMetadata File history File links Aana5. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Aana5. ...

They are used for religious ceremonies in and around the temples. A few elephants work at timber yards.

Caring for elephants

Each elephant has three mahouts, called pappan in the Malayalam language. The most important duty of the mahouts is to bathe and massage the elephant with small rocks, and husk of coconuts. A mahout is a person who drives an elephant. ... A mahout is a person who drives an elephant. ... Malayalam ( ) is the language spoken predominantly in the state of Kerala, in southern India. ... The term husk is mostly used to refer to the leafy outer covering of an ear of maize (corn) as it grows on the plant. ... Binomial name Cocos nucifera L.. The Coconut Palm (Cocos nucifera L.), is a member of the Family Arecaceae (palm family). ...

In the monsoon, the elephants undergo Ayurvedic rejuvenation treatments which include decoctions with herbs, etc. It is called Sukha Chikitsa in the Malayalam language. Monsoon in the Vindhya mountain range, central India A monsoon is a storm whose direction depends on the specific season. ... Ayurveda (आयुर्वेद Sanskrit: ayu—life; veda—knowledge of) or ayurvedic medicine is a more than 2,000 year old comprehensive system of medicine based on a holistic approach rooted in Vedic culture. ... Rejuvenation is the procedure of reversing the aging process, thus regaining youth. ...

Mahouts may be classified into three types, called in the Sanskrit language: The Sanskrit language (Skt. ...

• Reghawan: Those who use love to control their elephants.
• Yukthiman: Those who use ingenuity to outsmart them.
• Balwan: Those who control elephants with cruelty.

Ornaments used for elephants

One of the famous families in Trichur district of Kerala called Venkitadri family have made ornaments for three generations, especially for the famous Thrissur pooram or festival. They make gold plated caparisons, umbrellas, alavattom, venchamaram, necklaces etc. They decorate 150 elephants with ornaments for temple festivals. For the district with the same name, see Thrissur district. ... Among the varieties of festivals celebrated in Kerala, Thrissur Pooram is the most thunderous, spectacular and dazzling. ...

Woman mahout in Kerala

Nibha Namboodiri is the first woman mahout in India. She is a zoologist from Kerala state. Now she is moving into the field of elephant welfare.^{[citation needed]}

Books to read

Hasthyaayurvedam (Encyclopaedia of Elephants and Their Treatment).

This book is an encyclopaedia of elephants and their treatment. The original book is in Sanskrit but Vaidyamadham Cheriya Narayanan Namboodiri (present Chief Physician of Vaidymadham Vaidysaala) has translated Paalakaapyam (Hasthyaayurveda) from Sanskrit to Malayalam. The Sanskrit language ( , for short ) is an old Indo-Aryan language from the Indian Subcontinent, the classical literary language of the Hindus of India[1], a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ...

See also

• Kerala
• Thrissur Pooram
• Guruvayoor Temple
• Temple elephants

Kerala ( ; Malayalam: േകരളം; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of southwestern India. ... Among the varieties of festivals celebrated in Kerala, Thrissur Pooram is the most thunderous, spectacular and dazzling. ... Guruvayoorappan The Guruvayoor Shri Krishna Temple is one of the most important and sacred pilgrim centres of Kerala. ... The image shows the decorated temple elephant at the Kamatchi temple Kanchipuram of Tamilnadu state. ...

External links

• Association of elephant lovers to protect elephants

Pooram. Image File history File links Aana3. ... A pooram (the name coming from the Malayalam language used by the people of Kerala state of India) is a temple festival and there will be at least one elephant in the procession. ...

An elephant carrying Thidambu during Thrissur Pooram festival, Kerala, south India. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 1865 KB) Summary An elephant carrying Thidambu during Thrissur Pooram festival in Kerala, south India. ... Among the varieties of festivals celebrated in Kerala, Thrissur Pooram is the most thunderous, spectacular and dazzling. ... Kerala ( ; Malayalam: േകരളം; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of southwestern India. ... South India is a linguistic-cultural region of India that comprises the four Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Pondicherry, whose inhabitants are collectively referred to as South Indians. ...

An elephant saluting Vadakkunathan during Thrissur pooram. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2304x1728, 2261 KB) Summary Elephant Saluting during Thrissur Pooram. ... The Vadakkunathan Temple The Vadakkunathan Temple Vadakkkunnathan Temple is one of the largest temples in Kerala that is dedicated to Lord Shiva. ... Among the varieties of festivals celebrated in Kerala, Thrissur Pooram is the most thunderous, spectacular and dazzling. ...

Elephant feeding (Aaanayoottu) in from of Vadakkunnathan Temple, Thrissur. Image File history File links Aaanayoottu. ... The Vadakkunathan Temple The Vadakkunathan Temple Vadakkkunnathan Temple is one of the largest temples in Kerala that is dedicated to Lord Shiva. ... For the district with the same name, see Thrissur district. ...