Though captive elephants have celebrity status in Kerala with a huge fan following social media, the Forest department’s mission to translocate wild tusker Arikomban has catapulted some of the kumki elephants in its camps into stardom.
The successful mission to translocate Arikompan has turned the spotlight on some of the unsung heroes in the elephant camps. Although four elephants – Konni Surendran, Surya, Vikram, and Kunju – were part of the mission, Konni Surendran won the hearts of elephant lovers with his action-packed performance.
Hundreds of social media reels have been created depicting the dramatic face-off between Surendran and Arikomban before and after the mission.
Along with the tusker, Vyshak T.D., the mahout of Surendran, has also come in the limelight. Speaking to The Hindu, the 33-year-old mahout says after the mission he is being recognised by people everywhere he goes.
However, among captive elephants, Thechikottukavu Ramachandran, owned by the Thechikkottukavu Temple Trust in Thrissur, billed as the tallest captive elephant in India, remains the most celebrated elephant in Kerala with a massive fan following on social media platforms. There has been a surge in his popularity in recent years, despite the elephant killing 13 people and two elephants over the past four decades.
“Though Arikomban has been making waves on social media after becoming the most talked-about elephant in recent times, its stardom is short-lived,” says Sujith Thiriyathu, patron of the Koottukombanmar Elephant Welfare Forum.
“Once the media spotlight is turned away from him, he will lose his fame and stardom considering the experience of previous rogue wild elephants. But Surendran and other kumki elephants can enjoy the fame as long as they do the work of kumkis,” says Mr. Thiriyathu
In the case of celebrity elephants taking part in festival processions, the stardom will last longer as they become fan favourites among people of all ages for their height, look, imposing appearance and other statistics. Further, being a celebrity does not mean that the elephant will get any additional privilege or consideration in Kerala. In fact, celebrated temple elephants will have to do more work than others. A considerable amount of their time is spent on photo-shoots at festival venues, says a mahout.
