Elephants have great significance in the culture and
tradition of Kerala, the southernmost state in India. The elephant is an unavoidable
thing in the festivals in almost all temples here. Procession with caparisoned
elephants bearing idols of different gods and goddesses is an integral part of
any festival. Even today, elephants are playing an important role in the
cultural sector of Kerala. Here it is a common thing to call each elephant by a
name and in most of the cases, the names used to call elephants will be of gods
or goddesses. Nowadays elephants in Kerala enjoy a great fan following too.
There are fan clubs for different elephants where thousands of elephant
enthusiasts are members. Believe it or not, even some elephants have fan pages
and groups in different social media.
As we cannot talk about the culture of Kerala without
mentioning about elephants, we cannot tell mythological stories too without
mentioning elephants. There were many famous elephants in Kerala in the past
who have craved their names in golden letters in the minds of people.
Guruvayoor Keshavan, Tripunithura Gireeshan, etc are a few of such elephants who
have lived in the contemporary world. Here we are coming out with the story of
a great elephant who has lived a few centuries back. His name was Kottarakkara
Chandrashekhar.
As mentioned earlier in many of the stories, Kerala has been
divided into different feudal kingdoms and was being ruled by different
dynasties. Southern parts of present Kerala was under the rule of Venadu
Dynasty while most of central Kerala has been ruled by the Nediyirippu
Dynasty. There was a time when the Travancore (south Kerala) has been ruled by
the famous king Dharma Raja and Kochi (Central Kerala) has been ruled by the
famous Shakthan Thampuran. This period is being considered the best periods of
both these dynasties by the historians. Since both Kochi and Travancore were
friendly nations, there was no proper fencing or any other types of markings in
the boundaries. Tax collection and other official processes have been conducted
smoothly.
On those days, catching elephants was a common practice.
Elephants are being used for bringing large wood pieces from the forest and
also in t construction of huge structures. As mentioned earlier, elephants are
being used in various rituals related to temples also. The method of catching the elephant was simple. There are specially trained persons for that. They used to
dig huge pits inside the dense forest where elephants are moving frequently.
Then cover it with weak wood pieces and cover the wooden slabs with sand and
leaves. Elephants cannot realize this trap and they will fall in the deep pits.
Then trained elephants will be brought to take them out and to take them to the
training centers.
Once such a pit has been dug by the people of Kochi, but
three fourth of the pit fell inside the boundary of Travancore. Although Dharma
Raja, the King of Travancore came to know about it, he kept quiet as he was
maintaining a good relation with Shakthan Thampuran, the King of Kochi. After a
few days, a boy elephant fell in the pit and the people from Kochi brought it
to their training center. Dharma Raja came to know about this incident. He was
also told that the elephant is one of the best ones and is a complete elephant
as per “Mathamga Leela” the ancient text deal with the health and habits of
elephants. Thus Dharma Raja decided to
bring that elephant to his country and he entrusted the duty with his trusted
minister Diwan Keshava Pillai.
Keshava Pillai, in turn, called his trusted lieutenants
Kunjikutty Pillai, Vaikom Padmanabha Pillai, and Kuthirapakshi and instructed
them to bring that elephant to Travancore by hook or crook. Although Kunjikutty
Pillai had heard about the might of Shakthan Thampuran, he decided to carry out
the operation. He knew that he cannot win the elephant in a direct flight with
Shakthan Thampuran, hence he resorted to a drama.
Padmanabha Pillai and Kuthirapakshi went to the elephant
training center in the disguise of two travelers seeking food. Once they reached
there, they befriended the mahouts and elephant trainers. Padmanabha Pillai was
a master in Mathamgaleela, the ancient text deals with elephants. He chanted
some hymns from it and explained the meanings to Kuthirapakshi. Many of the
mahouts to have read the text. Hence they developed an interest in the words of
Pillai and they all gathered around him.
In between the discussions on various points of
Mathamgaleela, Pillai, and Kuthirapakshi invited the mahouts and trainers to the
nearby toddy shop. Mahouts and trainers drank toddy in large quantities, but
Pillai and Kuthirapakshi abstained from drinking. By the time they returned,
all mahouts and trainers were in a highly boozed condition. Some of them even
fell asleep as soon as they reached the training center.
Then Kunjikutty Pillai came there in disguise of a mad
gypsy. He expressed his ambition to climb on an elephant. As he has entertained
the mahouts and trainers with some magic, they were ready to fulfill the
ambition. They asked him to select the elephant on which he will climb. He
pointed to the boy elephant kept inside a cage. That was the one which has been
caught recently. Mahouts rejected his plea as that elephant was not trained
properly. At this juncture, Padmanabha Pilla put forth a suggestion that they
can allow him to climb on the elephant provided it has been taken out of the
cage with the help of two other trained elephants. If something happens to the
Gypsy, the mahouts will not be held responsible as they have taken the necessary
precautions. Mahouts agreed and did the same.
Once the elephant came out of the cage tied with huge ropes
which are held firmly by the trained elephants, the Gypsy climbed on it. Then
the three elephants started walking backward. Mahouts and trainers who were
under the control of the mesmeric power of toddy could not chase them. Once
they entered inside the boundary of Travancore, Padmanabha Pillai left the two
trained elephants free and continued their journey to Thiruvanthapuram, the
capital of Travancore.
On the way back, they reached Kottarakkara, a small town, and
decided to stay there as it was night by then. The very next day, they were
about to start their journey, but the elephant was not in a mood to move. Although
they tried for two or three days, the elephant did not move from there. Then
the elders of the locality came there and told the trio that Lord Shiva, the
presiding deity of the local temple might have developed affection towards this
elephant and that could be the reason for the strange behavior of the elephant.
They further told the trio to offer this elephant to the Lord Shiva of
Kottarakkara Temple and they will be able to take the elephant. They
informed the King about the incident and he agreed to do so. King himself came
to Kottarakkara to offer the elephant to the god. At that time noticed the
crescent-like marking on the forehead of the elephant. Thus he named the
elephant as Chandrashekharan which means the person with a crescent on his
forehead and also one of the many names of Lord Shiva. Thus the Elephant came
to be known as Kottarakkara Chandrashekhar.
There are many stories to prove the brilliance, generosity
and bravery of this elephant and all those stories will be told in the coming
parts.
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