Kodanad
Elephant Training Center - Cochin
Elephants are an integral part of
Indian mythology and culture. In God's Own Country, elephants are often
referred to as the sons of the 'Sahya' (the Western Ghats). Once a part of everyday
life in Kerala, elephants are the most ornamental and auspicious animals here.
No festival or celebration is complete without an elephant procession. Rows of
majestically caparisoned elephants, replete with colorful silken parasols form
the most spectacular part of any event in Kerala.
Kodanad Elephant Sanctuary (Kodanad Elephant Training Center) is a rural riverside
village in the Ernakulam district of the state of Kerala . Its a
popular picnic spot and tourist destination in Kerala too. It is the only
elephant rescue and training center in Kerala specialized for rescuing and
training stranded adult and baby elephants from the forest regions across
Kerala.
In the mornings at the riverside,
tourists informally get a chance to experience hands-on bathe and massage
of adult and baby elephants under the supervision of its Mahouts. Bathe
and massage of elephants are normally done with small flat rocks, and husk
of coconuts.
Kodanad offers elephant safari to
the visitors at the main park. At the park, the old ‘Kraal’ is maintained
to house elephants, which is a structure made of wood compartments that
can accommodate up to 4 elephants.
Visitors to Kodanad Elephant
sanctuary can watch feeding of elephants as nearly 80% of an elephant’s
day is spent on feeding. It is fascinating to watch elephants feeding
themselves in their natural environment
Watching baby elephants during
their early training years of early life as it takes a lot of training in
their early years. The facility is closed on Monday’s for tourists. There is
also a ‘mini zoo’ that shelters wild animals which have become unfit for
survival in the local forest and some inmates of the zoo are very rare
species.
Watching kodanad baby elephants
at their infancy and various stages of their growth has become a unique
feature that attracts visitors to Kodanad. At least four to six baby
elephants are brought in and trained every year. Tourists arrive at
Kodanad fascinated by baby elephant’s various stages of development at the
Care centre. Training plays an important role for elephants while their
brains develop and they learn vital survival and cultural knowledge. The
baby elephants at Kodanad are owned and taken care by the Department of
Forest. Once they become adults, someone buy them out in auctions. In
Kerala, elephants are used for a variety of traditional jobs such as
timber loading & wood moving, or as temple elephants for
religious Hindu festivals & events.
Kodanad, set on the Southern banks of
the Periyar River amid the beautiful high ranges near Perumbavoor, is one of
the largest elephant training centers in Kerala. Earlier elephants captured
from the Malayatoor forests (the forests in the East and North of Kodanad) were
trained here. Since the introduction of a ban on elephant capture Kodanad has
been reduced to a training centre. The famous Malayatoor Church is near
Kodanad. Muthanga of Wayanad district and
Konni of Pathanamthitta district are two other elephant training centers in
Kerala. Another attraction for elephant lovers is Punnathur Kotta, of the
neighbouring Thrissur district, where some 40 elephants of the Guruvayoor
Temple are groomed.
