Paramekkavu Sree Padmanabhan

Impressive elephant pageantry is an important part of the famous festivals of Kerala. Pachyderms are considered auspicious in the State. Several temples in the State groom one or more elephants for ritualistic purposes.

Seen in the video is ‘Sree Padmanabhan’, a proud possession of the Paramekkavu temple in Thrissur district. Brought from Bihar, this thirty-five-year old tusker is the biggest one among the elephants of Paramekkavu temple.

Elephants have an important role in the cultural life of Kerala. There is hardly any place in the world where elephants are loved, revered and groomed like Kerala.

In olden times a ‘pet elephant’ was quite common in aristocratic families. Today also several individuals in the state own elephants.