4. Riding Elephants in India
I have always been amused and sometimes scandalized to hear people in the western world ask me if elephants and tigers walk the roads in India. Pardon my smugness but I find the prospect hilarious. Infact, one person even asked me if there were cars in India. Hmmnn, how do you suppose a country of 1 billion plus people travel? More on that later.
For now, I want to talk about riding elephants in India. I can understand to some extent where these questions come from – elephants are exotic to most countries and specifically alien to several continents including the american and european continent. So, the answer to the hidden question is Yes, you can get a memorable elephant ride when visiting India, but NO, elephants on the roads are not a daily occurence across India. More like cows and goats on the road, and yes, sometimes, a bear in a cab :). I will recount that hilarious incident soon, sometime. For now, let me tell you how you can plan for an elephant ride, because its just not randomly going to happen.
Now, if you want to squeze in an elephant ride on your trip to India, you need to answer the following first:
1. Do you want it to be an excursion in rugged / jungle surroundings? OR
2. Do you want it to be an excursion in historical (forts/palaces) surroundings? OR
3. Do you want it to be an excursion in religious surroundings? OR
4. Do you just want to pet an elephant in a zoo?
Generally, apart from elephants in zoos or national parks, domestic elephants are State Government of India employees either in the forest department or tourism department. (If clicking on the link, scroll down to WORKING ELEPHANTS and MAHOUTS:)
1. Elephants rides in forests: The best place to try this would either be forests in Uttranchal (North India), or Assam (East India). I myself was once given a ride, (when living in Raiwala,) by a benevolent mahut in the mood to humor a 7 year old kid with a romp in the forest. Both the elephant and the mahut were Government of India, Forest Department employees. The elephant wraped his trunk gently around my waist, lifted me and placed me comfortably on his back, in front of the mahut. My elephant also stopped at a stream, snorted up some water, and showered it back at me playfully. You can be part of elephant safaris in the Himalayan foothills (Hardwar-Raiwala-Kotdwar-Kalagarh-Ramnagar-Kaladhungi-or-Haldwani) or the Assam wilderness. I have also lived in Lekhapani, a remote village in Assam, as a child and watched many times from my apartment window, mahut and elephant processions, walking though the forest at the end of a day’s work.
2. Elephants rides to forts: The best place to try this would be in Rajesthan (Western India). I myself in Jaipur rode all the way up to Amber fort palace, which sits up on a hill, on elephant back. Scarily enough, it was a male and like all males (hmmph), it trotted right behind his girlfirend and at the steepest point, decided to wrap its trunk around his girlfriends tail and give it a tug. Imagine the girlfriend elephant’s chagrin at being molested in public in this fashion. She immediately belowed and started trotting up the hill, trying to push past other elephants in front of her. My guy, in the heat of the moment, did not let go of her tail and started trotting to keep pace with her. I on the other hand was laughing but dangling on the basket I was sitting on for dear life ! Was quite an experience – my mahut had to work really hard to calm the naughty elephant. I would recommend this experinece 🙂 !
3. Elephants in religious ceremonies/temples – I have heard that the best place to try this would be in Kerala, or also Tamil Nadu (South India). You can spend a day with an elephant and his mahut. I myself have never had the opportunity till now. Try coinciding your trip with a festival, generally between the months of November – April, to watch a spectacular and memorable event where elephants are decorated and walked down the street and around the temple as part of a religious ceremony. You will not be able to sit on the elephant during the ceremony, you can only watch the elephants. Or you could be part of an elephant safari in Periyar wild life sanctuary (Kerala).
4. Elephants in a zoo – you are in the wrong country for this buster. If all you wanted to do was see elephants in the zoo, you needn’t travel all the way to India for this ! Elephant Safari is the way to Go !
Rupa
September 28th, 2011 at 4:46 am
Nice post , Thank you for taking this opportunity to converse about this , I will return soon !