The official symbols of God's Own Country represent the cultural heritage and natural treasures of the entire State. Let's have a look on the State Animal.
STATE ANIMAL - INDIAN ELEPHANT
The Elephas maximus indicus, the Asian Elephant which is popularly known as Indian Elephant is the State Animal of Kerala. It is a huge land animal that extensively used for labour and very few are left in the wild. It is native to mainland Asia (India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Malay Peninsula, Laos, China, Cambodia, Vietnam) and one of the three extant recognised subspecies of the Asian elephant. The Asian elephants have the highest body point on the head, broader skulls, tip of trunk has one finger-like process, larger trunks, toes are large and broad, back is convex or level, abdomen is proportionate with their body weight and smaller in terms of size, ears, tusk's length when compared to the African Elephants. The Asian Elephants have 19 pair of ribs and they reach a shoulder height of between 2 and 3.5 m (6.6 and 11.5 ft), weigh between 2000 and 5000 kg. Their skin colour is lighter than that of African counterparts. Even though Indian Elephants scores in overall looks. With short or no tusks, females are usually smaller than males. The giant mammals consuming around 250 kg of food a day are strict vegetarians, feeding on grass, leaves, bamboo, roots, fruits, flowers and also they inhabit in grasslands, dry deciduous, moist deciduous, evergreen and semi-evergreen forests.
Kerala has more than seven hundred domesticated Elephants along with a large population of wild elephants. Also, it is believed that if an elephant has been captured in the wild and domesticated then it will never be accepted by other wild elephants. Most of the domesticated ones are owned by temples and individuals. Few of them are used for work at timber yards and others are used for religious ceremonies in and around the temples, some churches and mosques also. The Elephant is featured on the emblem of the Government of Kerala as the State Animal.
Since Ancient times, Elephants have been an integral part of Kerala's culture and heritage. The majestic Indian Elephants adorned every King's prized possessions. The coat of arms of former Kingdoms (Travancore, Cochin) in Kerala depicted Elephants and even the modern state acknowledges the role of Elephants in the state's culture by incorporating them in the State's Symbol.
Almost all temples in Kerala have Elephants which are a core part of ritual worship, many of them are donated by devotees which are actively employed in temple duties. The famous Lord Krishna Temple at Guruvayoor is notable among them that possess more than 60 elephants. Pannathurkotta in Guruvayoor which is in Thrissur district is the World's only Elephant Park, which is known as Elephant Palace. The highlights of temple festivals and processions in Kerala are the Elephants decorated with caparisons. In temples, Elephants carry the deity during the annual festival processions and ceremonial circumambulations.
All times, for the people of Kerala, Elephant is the symbol of pride and elegance. The gentle giants namely Guruvayoor Kesavan, Guruvayoor Padmanabhan, Pampadi Rajan etc have high esteem by the Keralites. Kerala is the only state where there are Fan Associations for Elephants.
Thrissur Pooram in Vadakkunnathan Temple is the most famous annual Hindu temple-centred festival in Kerala which is known as the Elephant festival. This festival is known for the Elephants because, in the main parade of the celebration, two teams of 15 beautifully caparisoned elephants face off across the temple grounds and on each elephant's back, a man holds a parasol which is taller than the elephant itself. Another waves a yak-tail fan like a feather boa and when the Pandimelam (temple orchestra) plays, the parasols are exchanged among the men standing on the Elephants. Also in the night, there is a pyrotechnic display of elephantine proportions with fireworks.
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