Elephant Caregivers and Outfitters Make Elephants Shine During Famed Festival

KANDY, SRI LANKA – Fifth-generation elephant doctor Pradeep Miyanapalawa says he learned the secretive and legend-bound art of treating and taming elephants from his father and grandfather.

Miyanapalawa is the officer in charge of the 13 elephants that live at the famed Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, the nation’s old royal capital. The historic temple, which houses Buddha’s left canine tooth according to Buddhist history, is the site of Esala Perahera, a festival currently drawing millions of visitors from around the world to central Sri Lanka.

The festival is the resident elephants’ time to shine. They are among the 90 pachyderms clad in elaborate costumes that play essential roles in the festival’s sacred pageants to invite fortune and rain to the country.

The process of choosing elephants for the famed festival is selective, as no ordinary elephant can carry out the most important aspects of the sacred celebration. Miyanapalawa leads the selection process.

Beginning in April, Miyanapalawa compiles a nationwide list of all elephants that are eligible to participate in the holy event based on their physical and behavioral characteristics. He selects the best elephants according to their height, demeanor, tusk length, ear quality and age. He is also careful to note whether elephants are angry or are enemies with the other elephants, he says.

“They are majestic animals,” he says. “But they are individuals also. They have very distinct personalities, personal likes and dislikes. And, like humans, they react to situations individually and differently.”

Miyanapalawa visited more than 20 temples and 30 families to select this year’s participating pachyderms, he says.

Temple staff members cite Miyanapalawa’s understanding of the elephants and their temperament for why they have been successful in gathering dozens of elephants each year for the annual festival.

Miyanapalawa knows these elephants personally, says Jayampathi Weddegala, the secretary of cultural affairs at the Temple of the Tooth.

Miyanapalawa has been working at the Temple of the Tooth for nearly eight years. His family has cared for elephants and has helped others to understand changes in their behavior for generations.

He often treats elephants for ailments ranging from fevers to life-threatening illnesses. But he will not reveal the names of the diseases or treatment methods of what he calls a secretive art.

Miyanapalawa says his unique understanding helps him to select and to prepare the elephants for the festival.

“Understanding each elephant individually and in a group – that is how you learn to help them adapt to situations,” he says.

The most important decision, which he makes as a part of a committee, is the selection of the Royal Tusker, the elephant that carries the casket with the replica of the Buddha's tooth during the procession.

Tradition demands that the Royal Tusker’s physical features set it apart from the other elephants. Among those features are a perfect pair of tusks and a trunk, tail and genitals that reach the ground, says K. Meegahakumbura, a senior secretary of the temple and author of many publications on the history and rituals of the Temple of the Tooth.

“The tusker’s back should be flatter than a normal elephant’s,” he says. “And it has to be a well-grown, stocky animal.”

The Royal Tusker is usually older than 40, as younger elephants can be unpredictable. Four elephants in Sri Lanka currently meet these requirements, Miyanapalawa says.

Every morning of the 11 days of pageants during the 15-day festival, temple leadership consults one another on which of the four elephants will serve as the Royal Tusker that night. The chosen elephant has the task of carrying the sacred casket with the replica of Buddha’s tooth on its back.

Selecting and preparing the elephants require the work of experts ranging from caretakers to taillors to dressers. Their careful work demonstrates the crucial role that the elephants, especially the Royal Tusker, play in the famed festival. 

This year, 90 elephants will participate in the various pageants, Miyanapalawa says. In addition to the temple’s 13 resident elephants, 77 elephants come from temples and private families around the country to participate.

The chosen elephants and their mahouts – people who train and ride the elephants – spend two weeks in Kandy during the festival. Trucks transport most elephants to Kandy, while the largest elephants make the journey on foot during a period of several days.

The temple covers the costs to bring the elephants and mahouts to Kandy for the festival. Last year, the temple spent 5.4 million rupees ($41,000) on food, transportation and accommodations for elephants and their mahouts, as well as payment for the mahouts, Miyanapalawa says.

Despite these high costs, elephants have always played a key role in the Esala Perahera.

"In Sri Lanka, no other animal has been associated for so long with the people in their traditional and religious activities as the elephant," says Jayantha Jayewardene, managing trustee of the Biodiversity and Elephant Conservation Trust, a local nonprofit organization that works to conserve elephant populations.

Devout performers and onlookers say the famed festival would not be the same without the elephants. Wearing colorful, sparkling costumes, the elephants were a highlight for more than 6.5 million spectators this year, says Krishantha Hissella, director of the Media and Special Projects Unit at the Temple of the Tooth.

Deep ritual surrounds the act of dressing the Royal Tusker and requires a special team devoted to the task.

The skilled hands of one man, K.C. Thadhani, have made the Sri Lankan elephant costumes since 1965.

Thadhani’s name has become synonymous with elephant attire because he makes most of the creatures' costumes for festivals across the country. He makes between 20 and 40 elephant costumes for Esala Perahera each year.

Thadhani uses rich velvets, elaborate embroidery and distinctive Kandyan designs to create the costumes for elephants in the temple procession. The costumes cover each elephant's body, head, ears and trunk.

The largest elephant costumes, those for elephants more than 9 feet tall, require at least 100 yards (90 meters) of fabric, Thadhani says. Most costumes have multiple layers, including padding, lining, velvet and decoration.

A simple costume without embroidery takes about a week to complete, he says. But Thadhani is famous for his elegant and elaborate elephant costumes featuring sequins and heavy embroidery. They can take him and his team of five women up to two months to complete.

The cost varies for the different costumes, Thadhani says. Some devotees pay him for materials and labor to produce the elephants’ costumes, which they then donate to the temple. The temple, which outfits all the elephants, also commissions Thadhani to make new costumes as needed.

During the first five days of the festival, called the Kumbal Perahera, elephant costumes are more subdued with shades of white, cream or yellow. But during the next five nights, the elephant attire features bright reds and deep blues and increasingly elaborate designs. The final night unveils the most spectacular costumes, when gold and silver hues dominate.

But to no elephant's costume outshines that of the Royal Tusker.

The Royal Tusker garners the most attention and wears the best costumes, says H.M.D.R. Herath, professor of sociology at the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka’s Central province.

Just as meticulous as the preparation of the costumes is the ritual of putting them on the elephants.

Jayatissa Bandara Ahelamalpe is the current Gurudeniya Vidane Rala, or the royal elephant dresser. He is the fifth-generation male in his family to dress the Royal Tusker and has played this role for nearly 40 years.

Each year, he and his team prepare themselves for the task of dressing the Royal Tusker by worshipping at the shrines next to the Temple of the Tooth and avoiding eating meat. Each day of the festival, they bathe and put on clean, white clothes before going to the temple to begin their work.

“It is our hands that hold the Sacred Tooth Relic as it is placed on the elephant and removed later,” he says. “The cleansing rituals are essential for the team.”

This year, he will be working with a team of 11 family members – his three sons, nephews and cousins.

The festival is a good time to focus on the beauty and cultural importance of the elephant, Miyanapalawa says. Habitat loss and human encroachment have led to a decline in the elephant population. For Miyanapalawa that means it is harder to find tame, older elephants to participate in the pageants.

"As recently as 10 or 12 years ago, we had a wider choice of elephants to choose from," he says. "But the number of tuskers and elephants with all the good physical characteristics are becoming less, and our selection pool is dwindling."

Asian elephants, including the subspecies living in Sri Lanka, are an endangered species, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which works to solve environmental and developmental challenges. As of 2008, the Asian elephant population had declined by 50 percent during the previous three generations.

But the participation of old and new elephtants this year encourages Miyanapalawa.

"There are five new elephants in the pageant this year," he says. "They will join some who have been walking in the pageant for over 20 years."

He has faith that the elephants' key role in Esala Perahear will continue for decades to come.

"The elephants will always be part of this pageant," Miyanapalawa says confidently.

All original photography by Chathuri Dissanayake and Manori Wijesekera.