An event to acknowledge cow elephants in traditional festivities

Nine elephants from different parts of the State will participate in the first-ever Gajamela to be held exclusively for cow elephants at the Major Devi temple at Kodungoor, Kottayam, on April 4

March 18, 2023 07:44 pm | Updated 08:19 pm IST - KOTTAYAM

Cow elephant Thottakkad Panjali is set to carry the idol of the main deity during the upcoming festival at the Major Devi temple at Kodungoor in Kottayam on April 4.

Cow elephant Thottakkad Panjali is set to carry the idol of the main deity during the upcoming festival at the Major Devi temple at Kodungoor in Kottayam on April 4. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Gone are the days when she used to be disguised as a male and attend temple festivals amidst a sea of people. Long discriminated solely on the basis of their gender, cow elephants in Kerala are finally being paraded all decked-up, more elegant and feminine.

Come April 4, the Major Devi temple at Kodungoor, Kottayam, is slated to host the first-ever elephant festival (Gajamela) exclusively for cow elephants. As many as nine elephants from different parts of the State, renowned for their beauty and strength, have confirmed their participation in the event.

The elephants to be paraded for the festival are Thottakkad Panchali, Guruvayoor Devi, Plathottam Meera, Venattu Mattam Kalyani, Thottakkadu Kunju Lakshmi, Plathottam Beena, Kumaranellur Pushpa, Maha Lakshmi Parvathy, and Venattu Mattam Chembakam.

Commenting on the initiative, Reneesh Kumar V.C., secretary of the temple advisory committee, says the event ‘Pen Pooram’ (female festival) is being staged as a tribute to the cow elephants in Kerala, which remain largely barred from Kerala’s festival scene.

“This temple is only one among a few temples where cow elephants are used for the Meenapooram, a special occasion. Even in those temples, the presence of such elephants is largely limited to ritual purposes such as ezhunellippu and arat,’’ he says.

Till 2012, it was the late Vaijayanthi, a cow elephant, that used to carry the idol of the main deity here during the annual festivals.

The Pen Pooram, according to Mr. Kumar, is being planned as an event to mark the revival of the festival scene after the COVID-19 pandemic years, when such celebrations were largely regulated. “From caparisons to anklets and waist chains, the cow elephants are decorated much more painstakingly than the tuskers before being paraded for such events,’’ adds Mr. Kumar.

While the tuskers, which form the brute majority of the captive elephant stock in Kerala, are the real-money spinners during the festival seasons, cow elephants are scarcely available.

According to V.K. Venkitachalam, secretary, Heritage Animal Task Force (HATF), around 30% of the 420 captive elephants currently in Kerala are female. “Although they remain largely banned from temple festivals, female elephants are often subjected to torture by being forced to carry fake tusks to pass off as tuskers. In some cases, the fake tusks are bolted into their small teeth portion, causing severe irritation and internal injuries,” he says.

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