Elephants being an integral part of Indian culture and mythology have always fascinated me. So when I heard about the elephant training centre in Kodanad near Kochi, I was sure not to miss it. Located on the southern bank of the river Periyar, the area is part of the Malayattoor forest division and is about 42 km from the city of Kochi. Initially established as an elephant training center, Kodanad is accessible via a minor detour enroute to Munnar from Kochi.
Elephant capturing started as early as 1895 in the Malayattoor reserved forests and the captured elephants were housed here and trained for employment for various tasks in the forest. However, with the latest Government rules and policies with respect to animal welfare, the elephants are just looked after here and not ’employed’ for any ‘tasks’. The present day six room structure was built in 1965 and is used for the upkeep of elephants rescued in various parts of the state.
If you reach there early in the morning, say, at about 8-8.30, you can catch the elephants at bath and witness the joyful sight. We were, however, a bit late and arrived when it was time to feed the elephants. Food consisting of a mixture of sugarcane, jaggery and banana among others is prepared by the mahouts and fed to the elephants in the morning after which they rested for a while before being retired to the nearby forest for the morning. The same ritual is repeated in the evening.
There are not many elephants here currently, so it is a nice quiet place and ideal for a family outing with kids!
I have seen the camp of elephants near Guruwayoor in Kerala. It exciting trip there!
Ok great; I wish to visit that one.
Beautiful picture. I wish to go there.
Thanks Harshita. It is indeed a good place!
Beautiful creatures. Glad to hear they’re not worked into the ground.
Yes; there are no elephant joy rides for children also. So it is good that they are well looked after.
Lovely captures and something serene about it.
Thanks Chaitali!
Elephant training centre seems to be fun! Need to visit this. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks Arun. Yes it is a nice place; due to the latest rules now there is no “rigorous” training but good to see.
Great info and pics. I wish I could visit such places where they train elephants.
Yes it is a nice place; thanks for reading Roger.
Wow! This is so amazing. I love elephants Rashmi. When we were kids once in a while there would be a mahout doing the rounds with an elephant in the city streets in Bombay. Can’t tell you how exciting that day used to become ?
Thanks Archana; I am also as fascinated by elephants. The joy rides we took as children remain some of the most wonderful memories!
Nice one Rashmi. I love elephants too. I find them to be one of the most gentle animals! 🙂
Yes Priyanka, could not agree more. Thanks for reading:)
Aww, this sounds like the most wonderful experience! Something Alyson and I will be putting on our dream board for sure!! Lovely post 🙂
Thanks Reeanna:)
I’ve heard about this place..but couldn’t get a chance to visit…hope there must be some good hotels in this place!
Nice clicks
Am not sure of hotels here, Kochi is quite conveniently located so we stayed there. Anyway this place can be covered in half a day.
Nice capture.
Thanks Arun:)
Very interesting activity.
I have watched this in Dubare elephant camp, Coorg. How patiently they wait for their turn.
Yes Indrani; Dubare is a much larger camp with more number of activities. This is a smaller place but worth a visit if you go to Kochi.
looks like you had a great time 🙂
Yes Daniel, it was good:)
Lovely story.
Thanks Coral!
Kodanad was a beautiful tourist destination for foreign tourists and a great picnic spot for the locals. I have been to this place numerous times during my childhood since it was very close to my home. Unfortunately, the animals were kept in a poor condition and lot of complaints were registered for animals abuse. All the animals from this place were either released or moved to an open zoo at Abhayaranyam. See the current status of Kodanad Elephant training centre – http://www.indiatravelblog.com/destinations/43-Kodanad-Elephant-Training-Centre.aspx
Abhayaranyam is an interesting place to visit, which is about 2.5km from Kodanad. Many of the animals from Kodanad are moved there. Also, it is a good picnic area, which already started getting lot of attraction among the locals.
Thanks John for the information.
This is a great article. Thanks for sharing your experience
Thank you:)