At a time when every week men and elephants are storming each other’s bastions and many of the pachyderms are mowed down by moving trains, an entire village in south Bengal has come together to observe the last rites of two elephants killed by lightning.
Two villagers, Panchanan Kuiri and Naresh Pramanik, flanked by other villagers, forest guards, and officials, conducted the last rites by the Subarnarekha in Purulia district on Wednesday. Mr. Kuiri and Mr. Pramanik shaved off their hair and observed the last rites following Hindu rituals.
They even observed a 21-day ritual of having a full fruit and vegetable diet, so that the elephants rest in peace. While the village and the forest officials are grieving, they are pleasantly surprised by the attitude of the villagers who often attack elephants when the herds enter their hamlets.
Two elephants, including a mother who recently gave birth, died on July 2 near Jhalda village in Purulia forest division in south Bengal. Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Purulia division, Omprakash confirmed that the elephants were killed by lightning. Mr. Kuiri and Mr. Pramanik helped the team of officials and doctors to conduct the post-mortem .
They reportedly told the local press that they were disturbed with the death and decided to mark it with a 21-day ritual followed by a full-scale Shraddh (last rites) ceremony.
Mr. Kuiri and Mr. Pramanik then went to the riverside yesterday, after completing their 21-day ritual . The duo summoned the barber on their way. On Wednesday afternoon they shaved their hair, chanted mantras, and dedicated fruits to the dead souls. After completion of the rituals, they broke their day-long fast towards evening with some sweets and fruits, wore new white clothes, and left the spot by the river. They did make their offerings of white balls of rice to ancestors.
While it was not possible to reach Mr. Kuiri and Mr. Pramanik independently, a reporter of a Bengali newspaper, Sumit Biswas, who broke the story, confirmed that Mr. Kuiri and Mr. Pramanik said that they were driven by the emotional attachment that they developed with the animals in the forest of Jhalda where they were residing.
“The attachment made us feel that we lost someone from our own clan and decided to offer our prayers,” Mr. Kuiri said .
Mr. Omprakash said that he heard of such offerings and Pinda ceremony earlier but came to know for the first time. Confirming that both Mr. Kuiri and Mr. Pramanik were flanked by the villagers and some of the guards, Mr. Omprakash said locals do respect elephants.
“Otherwise, more elephants would have been killed in south Bengal, as the density of population has gone up and elephants do disturb people. But then people do not believe in killing elephants, unless they are in serious danger, and that because of such attachment,” the DFO said. Forest Minister Binay Krishna Barman has congratulated the villagers, especially Mr. Kuiri and Mr. Pramanik, for performing the last rites of two full grown elephants.
