Chennai: On a quiet morning in March, thousands of people flocked to Mangalamkunnu, a quaint village on the banks of Kerala’s Bharathapuzha river.
Many had travelled hundreds of kilometres just to get a final glimpse of the beloved 55-year-old elephant, Mangalamkunnu Ayyappan, who had died the previous night. As his massive body was hoisted onto a truck, the grief-stricken crowd burst into tears.
In Kerala, elephants are considered a symbol of the state’s cultural identity.
“We don’t know why it’s culturally significant. But, in Kerala, we personify elephants, their emotions and intelligence. We even impose our emotions on them,” Malayalam writer N.S. Madhavan told ThePrint.
From their prominent role in temple rituals to life-size statues and even pet elephants, evidence of the state’s love for the animal can be seen everywhere.
The state also has a unique tradition of elephant fan clubs, including one dedicated to a wild elephant called Arikomban, who is known for raiding crops, shops and occasionally even attacking human beings.
As Kerala’s official animal, the elephant also finds space in the state’s emblem and even in the logo of Kerala Blasters, the football team that represents the state in the Indian Super League.
But this centuries-old connection has come under scrutiny from both courts and conservationists amid growing concerns about the dwindling population and reported exploitation of captive elephants in the state.
Animal rights activists say captive elephants in the state are being subjected to torture in the name of culture.
Last month, the Kerala High Court introduced strict guidelines for parading elephants in festivals, including maintaining a mandated three-metre distance between the animals.
But the court’s move, aimed at ensuring the safety of elephants, sparked resistance from temple trusts which argued the rules interfered with Kerala’s traditions and ritualistic love for elephants.
The devaswoms, or boards, of two prominent Thrissur-based temples—Thiruvambady and Paramekkavu—approached the Supreme Court, saying the restrictions imposed by the court would halt the state’s most popular cultural event, the Thrissur Pooram festival.
The Supreme Court stayed the high court’s guidelines, saying the restrictions were “impractical” and beyond judicial authority.
Manoharan, president of the Paramekkavu Devaswom temple trust, welcomed the Supreme Court order.
“It’s true that the number of elephants is decreasing in the state. But we still need to conduct the festivals as per tradition,” Manoharan said.
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Dwindling population
However, activists stress the need to balance tradition with compassion.
The HC’s order has put the spotlight on the condition of elephants in Kerala.
According to the Kerala High Court, the number of captive elephants in the state has declined sharply from 509 in 2018 to just 388 in 2024. Of these, over 300 elephants are privately owned and the rest are owned by temples in the state.
Taking suo motu cognizance of the issue, the Kerala High Court on 14 November issued a slew of directions for parading elephants during festivals, including maintaining a minimum gap of 3 metres between the animals.
The bench comprising A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Gopinath P. said it was time to make the Kerala Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules, 2012, stringent as authorities had reportedly been stalling reforms under pressure from interest groups seeking to dilute the regulations.
“This case and the orders that we have been called upon to issue from time to time regarding captive elephants led us to conclude that the life of an elephant in captivity is an ‘Eternal Treblinka’,” the bench noted.
Treblinka was the second-deadliest extermination camp operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during the second world war.
“The high court directions could have been a way to reduce the torture inflicted on the elephants in the state,” V.K. Venkatachalam, the secretary of the Kerala-based Heritage Animal Task Force, told ThePrint.
Vankatachalam, who has been actively working to ensure the safety of the animals for over a decade, said captive elephants in the state are often “tortured in the name of culture” and many lack proper documents.
He alleged that successive Kerala governments and even the judiciary have supported the devaswoms in the name of tradition.
Tradition, culture and pride
For decades, elephants have been a source of pride in Kerala. Any festival—be it in a temple, church or mosque—is considered incomplete without their presence.
Elephants are elaborately decked up with ornaments for Kerala festivals. They wear a gold-plated ornament called a nettipattam that adorns the forehead and trunk. They also wear decorative bells called manikoottam on their neck, belly and around their ankles.
During processions, the people sitting atop the elephants carry a decorative umbrella and a pair of venchamaram or fly-whisks made out of white yak tails.
The state’s affection for the animal is reflected in the popular use of words such as Aanapranth, or elephant craze, and Aanapremi, or elephant admirer, across the coastal state.
Historically, elephants were mostly used for wars in India, says Kerala-based historian and documentary filmmaker O.K. Johnny.
He said the number of elephants a king possessed was often associated with his power. The more elephants he had, the more powerful he was perceived to be.
He said elephants were brought from neighbouring countries, including Sri Lanka, to India during wartime.
“Once technology developed, we didn’t need them to pull weights or fight in wars. Now, associating the animal with pride is just the remnants of a feudal culture,” Johnny said.
The significance of elephants in Kerala is also evident in the state’s literature and pop culture.
From the 1977 movie Guruvayur Kesavan to Aanachandam in 2006 and the poem Sahyante Makan (Son of Sahya/Western Ghats) by Malayalam poet Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon, Malayalam literature and movies have always celebrated elephants and their relationship with humans and temples.
“We were told that god travels on elephants,” a Thrissur-based temple trust member told ThePrint, requesting anonymity.
He said the custom of carrying deities on elephants originated during the monarchy to ensure the deity was visible to everyone and to prevent members of oppressed castes from touching it.
Elephants participating in temple customs are often considered divine and the soil touched by their tusks during ceremonies is believed to boost agricultural yields.
He also said bringing the most popular and the tallest elephant is a matter of pride for festival committees. For instance, the temple he is associated with spent Rs 16 lakh to bring 21 elephants for its one-day annual festival in 2023, he said.
Another temple in Palakkad district has spent Rs 13 lakh to bring Kerala’s most popular elephant, Thechikottukavu Ramachandran, the tallest captive elephant in Asia, for its annual festival scheduled for summer.
“If you have the popular elephants, it is enough to pull the crowd for the festival. We don’t need another advertisement,” he said.
According to the temple trust member, the declining population and strict guidelines have driven up the cost of these animals in recent years. He argued that instead of imposing restrictions, the state should intervene to bring more elephants into Kerala.
HC directions
But many activists say that beneath Kerala’s obsession with elephants lies a darker reality.
According to them, the pride and craze surrounding the animals have contributed to their exploitation in the state.
A 2016 documentary by Sangeeta Iyer, Gods in Shackles, uncovered the dark side of festivals and exposed the torture inflicted on the animals by owners to tame them for festivals.
Similarly, in 2017, an investigation by animal rights organisation PETA into Thrissur Pooram found that elephants with severe health issues—such as poor body condition scores meaning they were too thin, painful abscesses, open wounds, impaired vision, chipped and cracked nails, cracked soles and foot diseases—were being forced to participate in festival processions.
“The banned iron ankus/thotti (a weapon with a sharp iron hook at the end) was brazenly carried by the mahouts to induce fear and pain and the similar sharp equipment was used to poke, pierce and drag elephants to control and force them,” it said.
PETA added that elephants were forced to stand for hours in hot and humid weather amid ceremonial drumming, violating the Kerala Captive Elephants Rules.
Initially formed in 2003 and revised in 2012, the rules mandate periodical medical examinations, prohibit the use of elephants during musth, and ban processions in hot weather and for long durations, a rule brazenly violated in the state.
The high court’s 14 November order directed the Chief Wildlife Warden to ensure that all captive elephants in Kerala are counted and have proper documents.
It also directed the formation of a district committee, which would include a member of the Animal Welfare Board of India, to ensure festival committees follow animal safety protocols.
These include maintaining necessary spacing between animals, not using elephants in musth or those that are weak, injured or pregnant.
Additionally, the committee must ensure that the elephants receive adequate food and water, prohibit them from walking for extended periods on tarred roads under the scorching sun, and ensure adequate protection for elephants through the use of volunteers.
Venkatachalam said the dwindling elephant population was a wake-up call to look for alternatives to the tradition.
His organisation, in association with PETA, has given four robotic elephants to temples in Kannur, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts since 2022.
These mechanical elephants are meant for conducting ceremonies at temples that don’t want to own or hire live elephants.
“Until now, they (elephants) have been pushed. But the IIT-Madras has promised us that they can build a mobile elephant soon,” he said.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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