Guruvayur Keshavan

For the 1977 film, see Guruvayur Kesavan (film).
Guruvayoor Kesavan's Statue at Guruvayur.

Gajarajan Guruvayur Kesavan (death: December 2, 1976)[1] is perhaps the most famous and celebrated captive elephant in Kerala, southern India. Kesavan was donated to the Guruvayur Hindu temple by the royal family of Nilambur in 1916.[2] It is a common Hindu custom in Kerala to poach elephants either as calves or young adults from the wild and to donate them to the deity of the temple as an offering, commoditising them, completely ignoring the fact that they are sentient beings and thus relegating them to a life of cruelty and invariably an untimely death. Guruvayur temple has some substandard facilities (which violate every norm laid down by the Central Zoo Authority) at Punnathurkotta to maintain all of these elephants, which are in excess of 50.

Standing over 3.2 meters tall, Kesavan was known for his devout behavior. Kesavan died on December 2, 1976 aged 72, which happened to be Guruvayur Ekadasi, considered a very auspicious day. He fasted for the entire day and dropped down facing the direction of the temple with his trunk raised as a mark of prostration. The anniversary of his death is still celebrated in Guruvauyur. Many elephants line up before the statue and the chief elephant garlands it. Kesavan was conferred the unique title "Gajarajan" (Elephant King), by the Guruvayoor Devaswom.

The Guruvayoor Devaswom erected a life-size statue of Keshavan in its precincts as tribute to the services he rendered to the presiding deity of the temple. Its tusks, along with a majestic portrait of the elephant, can be still seen adorning the entrance to the main temple enclosure. Its life is the subject of the 1977 Malayalam feature film Guruvayur Kesavan, released the year after his death. The film was directed by Bharathan, starring M. G. Soman, Adoor Bhasi, Sankaradi, Bahadoor, Jayabharathi, Vennira Aadai Nirmala (ushakumari), Veeran, Oduvil Unnikrishnan, junior sheela, M S Nambudiri, N Govindankutty, Paravoor Bharathan and Manavalan Joseph zoomed by Ashok Kumar (cinematographer). The story of Guruvayoor Kesavan was later portrayed in a television serial on Surya TV, (2009—2010).

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ http://www.guruvayurdevaswom.org/kesavan.html
  2. ↑ The Hindu : National : `Guruvayur Kesavan' remembered

References

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