Hardly any captive elephant in Kerala has a non-Hindu name

An elephant dons a medallion of a non-Hindu faith during a temple festival.

Over the years, captive elephants have been an integral part of processions taken out during festivals of different faiths in Kerala.

Though many of them have non-Hindu owners, hardly any of them sports a non-Hindu name.

V.Sasikumar, general secretary of the Kerala Elephant Owners’ Federation, says there is no objection to elephants having a name associated with a non-Hindu faith, but their owners do not prefer it as a major part of their income comes from temple festivals.

Retaining names

Abdul Ansari, alias Kalakuthan Ansari, of Thodupuzha, the owner of Kalakuthan Kannan, says he did not change the elephant’s name after he bought it a few years ago, but just prefixed Kalakuthan to it. He says no one from his community has objected to his elephant having the name Kannan.

There is no ban on adopting non-Hindu names, but most owners do not want to break with tradition, says Pothen Varghese of Puthuppally, who owns celebrity elephants like Puthuppally Kesavan, Puthuppally Saadu, and Puthuppally Arjunan.

V.K. Venkitachalam, general secretary of the Heritage Animal Task Force, says it is difficult to parade an elephant named ‘Joseph’ or ‘Ahamad’ in temple processions. However, there is no issue over the name of an elephant that takes part in processions organised by churches or mosques.

Of late, eyeing more business, some non-Hindu owners have started placing religious symbols of their faith on elephants during processions, says Mr. Venkitachalam.

Kerala now has around 412 captive elephants, of which about 100 are owned by different temples, a few by the Forest department, and the rest by private elephant owners. Around 30% of owners belong to non-Hindu faiths.