Jumbo hustle: the transfer of elephants to Tamil Nadu’s temples
This article explores the historical and cultural decline of temple elephants in Tamil Nadu, using the literary character Kesavan to illustrate their transition from revered figures to exploited animals. It reflects on the changing relationship between humans and these animals in a modern context.
Why it matters
Provides cultural insight into the intersection of religious tradition, animal welfare, and historical narrative in India.
Nothing illustrates more poignantly the exalted status once enjoyed by temple elephants, and their subsequent fall, than the story of Kesavan — the elephant of the Adi Kesava Perumal Temple at Kanniyakumari’s Thiruvattar — who is the protagonist of writer Jeyamohan’s Mathagam. A favourite of the King, even when he was a prince, Kesavan developed a sense of his own exceptional status.
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