Hitherto absent from the vibrant festival scene in Kerala, the cow elephants in the State are now being brought to the forefront of cultural events.
The upcoming annual festival at the Major Devi temple in Kodungoor, Kottayam, will field nine female elephants from different parts of the State. From March 21 to 23, the temple authorities will organise events ranging from the parading of female elephants bedecked in opulent finery to an exhibition of elephant accoutrements.
Reneesh Kumar V.C., secretary of the temple advisory committee which organises the event, said the accoutrements of 15 female elephants would be put on display as part of the Pooram exhibition. “The exhibition will begin on March 21, followed by a beauty pageant the next day, in which nine elephants will take part. The elephant winning this competition will be bestowed with the title “Thrikkodungoor Maheswaripriya Ibhakula Sundari,” he said.
The celebrations will culminate with a ‘Pen Pooram’ on March 23, which will also feature a Kudamattam event — the unfurling of colourful parasols in quick succession by people mounted atop the elephants. The mahouts and owners of these female elephants will also be felicitated on the occasion.
The Devi temple at Kodungoor is one of the few in Kerala where cow elephants are used for the Meenapooram, a special occasion. Even in those temples, the presence of such elephants is largely limited to ritualistic purposes. Over the years, instances of female elephants enduring mistreatment by being forced to masquerade as tuskers have also been reported across the State.
The festival fervour of Kerala has always revolved around tuskers, observes Sreekumar Arookutty, a popular elephant blogger and writer of the renowned Kerala TV series “E4 Elephant.” “Even in temples where female elephants are used for ritualistic purposes, tuskers hold sway when it comes to parading,” he points out.
One peculiarity of the female elephants in Kerala, according to Mr. Arookutty, is that almost all of them hail from the Kerala forests. “While the majority of the tuskers originally hail from north India and are generally referred to as Bihari elephants, these females were brought up in the elephant training camps like Konni, Kodanad, or Muthanga,” adds Mr. Arookutty.
