Pooram Diaries - 1
Perhaps, unlike anywhere else in the world, Elephants are treated as superstars only in Kerala.
Legends, exploits, notoriety of these giants are discussed in Kerala with the same excitement with which chennai talks about Rajni and Jharkand speaks about Dhoni.
Here, I wish to remember some of the forgotten giants from the past.
Chengaloor Ranganathan.
Standing a majestic 11'5 feets tall, he was the tallest Asian elephant for a long time even after his death in 1917.
Which takes back to the incident around his death or rather, murder.
In 1914 Thrissur Aarattupuzha pooram, as usual Ranganathan took the centre stage adorning the Thidambu (deity's idol).
Being the most handsome and macho among all the other jumbos, there has been no pooram in which Ranganathan was a sidekick.
Naturally, other elephants also gave into his masculine superiority.
But in 1914, there was one notorious tusker in the group who himself was huge, muscular and equally majestic. But just falling short of Ranganathan.
It was the Akavoor Govindan.
Standing on the left side of Ranganathan, in a moment of madness, the jumbo stabbed Ranganathan with his tusks in the neck.
Ranganathan, never recovered from this attack, neither did he ever take part in any pooram after that. 3 long painful years of treatment later, Ranganathan breathed his last in 1917.
Ranganathan was the first superstar reigning the pooram grounds for 10 years before his untimely death.
Skeletal remains of Ranganathan is still on display at the Thrissur zoological museum.
What made Ranganathan a crowd puller was not just his physical appearance but also his docile and loving nature.
Speaking of nature, that takes me back to Akavoor Govindan, who was a pole opposite.
Govindan, was known with other adjectives as well, the killer (kolayali Govindan) or the vazhakalli Govindan, the one who picks up fight with anyone.
And these adjectives pale before his deeds.
Govindan has killed 17 elephants in his lifetime and injured 15 other pachydrems. And add to it half a dozen people.
He was strong and displayed almost human like emotions of jealousy and need to dominate.
Everyone came to see the bad boy, who was not that bad looking either.
Despite his violent record, he was in demand for a whole decade ruling as the big bad boy.
Yet another pooram season. Govindan was having a bath in the chalakuddy river, getting ready for the pooram in the near by temple.
An other elephant too entered the waters for the bath.
No sooner did it enter, Govindan broke loose, charging.
Mahouts of the other tusker knew, its end game for it and unchained the disciplined elephant so that he has a chance to run away from the killer.
What next happened, was shocking and stuffs legends are made of.
The Elephant, instead of running away in fear. Turned towards the raging Govindan. Flung the chains at Govindan and upturned him into the river with ease. Brute force was what people witnessed.
That was not it, the elephant stabbed Govindan in his stomach as well.
After the bloodbath, the elephant calmly walked backed to his Mahout and acted as if nothing happened.
It was after all, the majestic and king of poorams of that time, the Guruvayoor Pazhaye Padmanabhan, who taught Govindan the right lessons.
It is said that after that incident Govindan never attacked anybody and mend his ways.
The injuries were not grevious, may be that was the whole intention of the majestic Padmanabhan.
Govindan recovered, but his aggression to win had not died.
In the famous Guruvayoor Aanaottam (Elephant race) in 1920s, Govindan was the unbeaten champion.
Something out of the ordinary happened in 1930. Govindan was leading upto the last stretch of the race, and suddenly a young, muscular and charming tusker emerged from behind and pulled off a stunning last leg victory.
It was the legendary Gajarajan Guruvayoor Keshavan. The one who would later go on to become the most famous, the most loved, the divine elephant of lord guruvayoorappan.
This was the beginning of the legend of Guruvayur Kesavan, who in 1934 went on to take over from pazhaye padmanabhan the duties of being the Elephant of the presiding deity of Guruvayoor.
In this first of the series, I take leave by just introducing Guruvayoor Kesavan. Look out for more tales from the past.
Perhaps, unlike anywhere else in the world, Elephants are treated as superstars only in Kerala.
 |
| Common Day scene in Kerala. Pic credit: Binto P Anto |
Legends, exploits, notoriety of these giants are discussed in Kerala with the same excitement with which chennai talks about Rajni and Jharkand speaks about Dhoni.
Here, I wish to remember some of the forgotten giants from the past.
Chengaloor Ranganathan.
Standing a majestic 11'5 feets tall, he was the tallest Asian elephant for a long time even after his death in 1917.
Which takes back to the incident around his death or rather, murder.
 |
| The tallest one in the centre is Chengaloor Ranganathan. He is neck and shoulders above others. Circa 1913 |
In 1914 Thrissur Aarattupuzha pooram, as usual Ranganathan took the centre stage adorning the Thidambu (deity's idol).
Being the most handsome and macho among all the other jumbos, there has been no pooram in which Ranganathan was a sidekick.
Naturally, other elephants also gave into his masculine superiority.
But in 1914, there was one notorious tusker in the group who himself was huge, muscular and equally majestic. But just falling short of Ranganathan.
It was the Akavoor Govindan.
Standing on the left side of Ranganathan, in a moment of madness, the jumbo stabbed Ranganathan with his tusks in the neck.
Ranganathan, never recovered from this attack, neither did he ever take part in any pooram after that. 3 long painful years of treatment later, Ranganathan breathed his last in 1917.
Ranganathan was the first superstar reigning the pooram grounds for 10 years before his untimely death.
Skeletal remains of Ranganathan is still on display at the Thrissur zoological museum.
 |
| Skeletal remains of Ranganathan on display at the Thrissur zoological museum, over a century old. Photo Credit: K.K. Najeeb |
What made Ranganathan a crowd puller was not just his physical appearance but also his docile and loving nature.
Speaking of nature, that takes me back to Akavoor Govindan, who was a pole opposite.
Govindan, was known with other adjectives as well, the killer (kolayali Govindan) or the vazhakalli Govindan, the one who picks up fight with anyone.
And these adjectives pale before his deeds.
Govindan has killed 17 elephants in his lifetime and injured 15 other pachydrems. And add to it half a dozen people.
He was strong and displayed almost human like emotions of jealousy and need to dominate.
 |
| Killer Govindan, having a leisurely morning bath. |
Everyone came to see the bad boy, who was not that bad looking either.
Despite his violent record, he was in demand for a whole decade ruling as the big bad boy.
Yet another pooram season. Govindan was having a bath in the chalakuddy river, getting ready for the pooram in the near by temple.
An other elephant too entered the waters for the bath.
No sooner did it enter, Govindan broke loose, charging.
Mahouts of the other tusker knew, its end game for it and unchained the disciplined elephant so that he has a chance to run away from the killer.
What next happened, was shocking and stuffs legends are made of.
The Elephant, instead of running away in fear. Turned towards the raging Govindan. Flung the chains at Govindan and upturned him into the river with ease. Brute force was what people witnessed.
That was not it, the elephant stabbed Govindan in his stomach as well.
After the bloodbath, the elephant calmly walked backed to his Mahout and acted as if nothing happened.
It was after all, the majestic and king of poorams of that time, the Guruvayoor Pazhaye Padmanabhan, who taught Govindan the right lessons.
 |
| Guruvayoor Pazhaye Pathmanabhan |
It is said that after that incident Govindan never attacked anybody and mend his ways.
The injuries were not grevious, may be that was the whole intention of the majestic Padmanabhan.
Govindan recovered, but his aggression to win had not died.
In the famous Guruvayoor Aanaottam (Elephant race) in 1920s, Govindan was the unbeaten champion.
 |
| Guruvayoor Aanayottam, 2019 |
Something out of the ordinary happened in 1930. Govindan was leading upto the last stretch of the race, and suddenly a young, muscular and charming tusker emerged from behind and pulled off a stunning last leg victory.
It was the legendary Gajarajan Guruvayoor Keshavan. The one who would later go on to become the most famous, the most loved, the divine elephant of lord guruvayoorappan.
This was the beginning of the legend of Guruvayur Kesavan, who in 1934 went on to take over from pazhaye padmanabhan the duties of being the Elephant of the presiding deity of Guruvayoor.
 |
| The King of Elephants, Gajarajan Guruvayoor Kesavan. |
In this first of the series, I take leave by just introducing Guruvayoor Kesavan. Look out for more tales from the past.
