Aana Kotta or the Elephant Fort
Aana kotta roughly translates to Elephant Fort. Aanakotta, one of its kind in the world, is located 3 km away from Sri Krishna temple, Guruvaayoor, Kerala. The place houses around fiftyelephants and is entirely dedicated to elephant care. It is spread over ten acres with tall trees reaching out their branches, covering the whole place as a canopy.
Here, specialized mahouts feed the elephants, bathethem and take them for a daily stroll. When I visited the place, old elephants looked moody and baby elephants were having fun. Though, elephants in general, seemed to enjoy the elaborate process of getting bathed.
The mahouts usually spend hours of time, scrubbing away the grimy surfaces of the elephants and get them bathed. They also take intense care and scan the elephants inch-by-inch for any tiny parasites.The massive beasts too, lie down sideways and patiently cooperatewith the mahouts while getting washed. The whole process is a sight to behold.
Perhaps if you didn’t know before, here is an interesting trick that the mahouts deploy on the elephants. However massive the beasts may be, they are still tied only to thin chains. Though it is easy for the elephants to break the chains away to freedom, they seldom attempt to. Becausewhen the elephants are young and much smaller, even a thin chain could hold and control them. After numerous failed attempts to break the chain, as they grow up, the elephants convince themselves that the chain can never be broken. Once the mahouts ensure this, they do not care to tie these elephants with stronger chains.
We do to animals, that we do to ourselves too. The innocence and freedom in liberating ourselves and our creativity lessens as we grow up. I could see the metaphorical irony here and thought of the Gordian Knot. We human beings too are tied to links that we think are complicated, while all we have to do is think out of the box.
Here are a few photos taken at Aanakotta.
A baby elephant getting bathed.
Elephants fed with massive rice balls for lunch.
One of the mahouts.
A completely unrelated picture. One of my favourites from the trip. Taken in Thrissur, Kerala.
The next time you visit the guruvaayoor temple, ensure that you pay a visit to Aanakotta. There are ample places to sit back and enjoy the elephants’ activities. It is generally said that three things can never get you feeling bored; seas, babies and trains. These elephants can very well be added to this list.
