Amazing Facts About Elephants With Image Gallery
72Elephant Fact and Festivals
Elephant in Latin means Huge Arch ... Ele means arch and phant means huge.Elephants are the largest living land animal in the world. The huge mammals are endangered species due to poaching for ivory trade and shrinking living space. They are keystones species affecting biodiversity of the place they inhabit.
They are divided into two species 1. Asian Elephant-Elephas Maximus 2. African Elephant-Loxodonta AfricanaBasic Diet
Elephants spend most time of a day for eating.Large stomach .Large appetite. Digestive system is inefficient to absorb maximum nutrients. So they eat approximately 250Kg of food everyday and 150L of water.Elephant's favored food includes coconut leaves, palm leaves, bananas, mangoes, coconut, sugar cane, bamboo, Pine apples, berries, corn, jungle shrubs, palm fruits, wood apples, rice and jaggery.In Kerala, during Sukhachikitsa (Rejuvanation Therapy) Rice, Green gram, horse gram, Chyvanaprasam, Ashtachoornam, Turmeric powder, Tefroli powder, Sharkoferrol, Mineral mix and salt are given.Elephant Bath
Elephants love water. Elephants bath is a time consuming process for mahouts. In Kerala there may be 2 or 3 mahouts(pappan) for an elephant. They scrub the body of the elephant with coconut husks. This will remove the dirt and increase the blood circulation. Its very interesting to see this huge bath. Elephant will change its positions according to the instruction of 'Pappan'. Aanayottam' (Elephant race)The most famous Aanayottam is conducted at the Guruvayur temple during the Utsavam. This will start from 'Manjulalthara'(Big banyan tree in the eastern entrance). The race ends at the flag post. During the race the elephants have to run 7 times around the temple. The elephant who wins will have the right to take the idol of Sri Guruvayurappa during the procession. 'Aanayoottu' The ceremonial feeding of elephants.Nowadays its a common thing in almost all the processions of the temples. In this ritual medicinal food prepared specially to feed the elephants. During this ritual a lot of food is given to elephants and it leads to 'erandakettal' means constipation.
Coconut, jgggery, rice flakes, honey they are formed as a concrete like mix in his colon and this leads to his death. It is also observed that the food is given in plastic carry bags and this may also damage their health. Gajapooja Worshipping of elephants.According to Puranas elephants are considered as incarnation of Mahaganapathy, the god who diminishes all obstacles. Vinayaka Chathurthy is an auspicious occasion for Ganapathy Temple. At Malliyoor Temple every year 'Gajapooja' and 'Aanayoottu' are observed as part of the Vinayaka Chathurthi rituals. Caparisoned jumbos are considered as the most eminent guests of the day. The feast of these pachyderms is a great pleasure to the devotees of the temple too. Bhagavatha Hamsam Malliyoor Namboothiri the great guru and the great devotee of Sri Guruvayurappa is conducting various events in the temple which attracts a lot of devotees from various places. It is the only temple, the diety is Sri krishna in the lap of Sri Mahaganapathy.
Gajamela Procession of caparisoned elephants.It may also be called as Elephant Pageantry. In Kerala Gajamela is a spectacular show of the beautiful elephants adorned with all the ornaments. The number of Gajamela is increasing every year most because of the commercialisation of the event. This attracts people from Kerala and abroad.
Aanaval Mothiram(The Ring)This is ring made by the hairs of the elephant's tale. The hair is covered with gold. It is a common ornament in Kerala. Bracelets and bangles are also made in the same method. A strong belief exists that elephant hair ornaments will decrease the fear of our mind. Mostly these ornaments are used by children. Aanakkottil (Elephant shed)Most of our religious festivals will be incomplete without elephants. Most of the temples have permanent facilities to incorporate elephants during festive seasons. Aanakkottil is the place where elephants will carry the idol and stay there for a long time for 'parayeduppu' or a 'panchavadyam'
Do You Know !!!
- A baby elephant weigh almost 91Kg and almost have height of 9Meters.
- Female elephants are called cow
- Male elephants are called bull
- An adult elephant can eat 136Kg of food in a single day
- The heaviest tusk ever known belonged the Columbian mammoth these weighed 226kg!
- The other creature to have ivory teeth is the Walrus ( large sea animal living in the Arctic region).
Elephant Image Gallery
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Links
Are you still eager to know more and more about these animal these sites are interesting.
Everything about the Elephants-http://www.elephantcountryweb.com/Index2.html
Elephant sanctuary and rescue centre in Northern Thailand-http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/
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Comments
loved the pics.. good.
Comp-smart ,creativemind ..thank you for your comments
compu-smart says:
11 months ago
I would love to ride and hug and Elephant, but i have seen too many videos, which i know are still very rare of Elephanst going on the rampage!! whch puts me off as my luck is not the greatest!! lol