Thrissurians are a people having an obsession of jumbos of elephantine magnitude.They adore the beauty,the lush luxury or profundity of the elephant.
It may be because of the ingenuity and mannerism of the animal rather than strength and volume.It may be because of the artistic dexterity displayed in elephant paraphernalia or accoutrements. A temple festival or procession without elephants is like a feast with only sauce and nothing else.Eversince man began to catch, tame and train elephants they have been used in temples, Knowing their unalienable and intrinsic worth in the temple ritual.
Thus Guruvayur Temple is having several now. Amoung the late ones the temple had Guruvayur Kesavan the biggest in the state soaring to a height of ten feet .Thrissur town has three or more temples which are the rich owners of more than one jumbo. Irinjalakkuda and kodugallur Temples have many. These temples reared elephants more as pets than as financial propositions .There was hardly an affluent Namboodiri Family in Kerala, some 40 years back that had not an elephant of its own .
Now for the last three or four years elephants causing havoc and turning killer begins is all too frequent though, stories of mahouts and elephants ,elephants and people ,there unflinched love and affection were untold.
Central Kerala is a famous for its great temples and festivals and most of it had enormous elephant presence .Amoung these two of the pooram has 30 elephants at a time there used to be as many as hundred elephants for Arattupuzha pooram
Jumbos are one of the most attractive wild animals .It could run at a speed of 40 km per hour and jump wide ditches with ease .Tuskers are the elongated upper jaw teeth .While African elephants have got two fingers ,our local pachyderms have only one .The height of the Asian animal could be calculated measuring twice the circumference of the front foot .The maximum number of feature films on wild animals is based on jumbos. Malayalam films are far ahead in this chart .
