By Binod Prasad Adhikari
Sauraha [Nepal], December 26 (ANI): Tippy-toes walk, scribbles all over the body, eyeliners, nail polishes and cleanliness; it’s the beauty contest of Elephants in Nepal.
Around a dozen elephants contested on Wednesday to be named the beautiful amongst them which drew hundreds of people to the festival of tuskers locally called ‘Hatti Mahotsav’ in the tourist town of Sauraha.
Five judges examined the elephants on the criteria of cleanliness, discipline, obedience, decorations, teeth and walks to mark each of them.
“We had nine criteria to announce an elephant as the winner. The most important thing to consider at the time of judgement is the body structure of an elephant, followed by decorative by the Mahout, tippy toes walk, obedience, cleanliness of nails and body parts are the criteria for markings,” Binod Timalsina, one of the judges of the elephant beauty pageant told ANI.
The judges rated each elephant with a score of 50 in each of the existing 9 categories. The highest point-earning elephant is announced the winner who is then provided with a special treat for the day.
It’s the duty of Mahout to prepare elephants for the show. This takes a long procedure and preparation.
“For the elephant festival’s beauty contest we carried out the work of beautification of elephant, made it practice the moves and orders, made it look attractive and beautiful,” Dilip Mahato, a mahout or the caretaker of the elephant in Sauraha told ANI.
On Wednesday, ‘Rimjhimkali’ the elephant belonging to Dilip Mahato, won the title of most beautiful elephant by getting 400 out of 450 points. It takes at least an hour for mahouts to prepare an elephant for show with paintings all over the body and a proper bath, which also takes the same time.
In Mahato’s experience, it takes a lot of effort to get along with the elephants and look after them. Their routine usually starts before sunrise and continues throughout the day.
“It takes a lot of effort to take care of elephants. We usually wake up at 5 am in the morning every day, and clean the house- ‘Thaan’ of elephant. After a quick shower of the elephant we then set off for the jungle to collect fodders, which is later given to them in the evening. We come back home by 8 am in the morning then after which the elephants are served with grains and other items of their liking,” Mahato briefed ANI about his schedule with his elephant.
This year’s star elephant ‘Rimjhimkali’ got the treat of delicious food items such as sugarcane, banana, papaya and other varieties whereas the owner of the elephant is awarded with cash prize. It took about 15 days for Dilip to prepare his elephant for the festival this year.
“It doesn’t take a year to prepare them for the contest. An elephant is ready to take part in the contest within 15 days of training. This year events relating to elephants has been reduced otherwise previously there used to be football and other sports but this year all those pressuring games have remained off the chart which in a way is welcoming. Now the elephants don’t have to endure much pain and trouble,” Dilip shared.
Being held after a hiatus of three years, the latest edition of the festival has made changes owing to the protest by the animal rights activists. The popular polo, football and races played by elephants have been kept off the schedule leaving the beauty pageant and picnic of tuskers.
The unusual sport of elephant polo had remained the most popular event of the festival which has continued to be held every winter on the grass field of Sauraha.
A scion of horse polo, the Elephant polo was first introduced in Nepal on 1982 after James Manclark started the pachyderm version of the sport with fellow enthusiast Jim Edwards. The first games were played on a grass airfield in Meghauli, which is located on the edge of the Chitwan National Park.
The game is played by driving elephants using trainers called ‘mahouts’. Initially, a soccer ball was used in the game. But after elephants started smashing the balls, they were replaced with standard polo balls.
The sticks used in the game are made of bamboo and have a standard polo mallet on the end. This unusual sport had been attracting hordes of foreigners to the jungle safari destination of Chitwan.
In the polo game, nine elephants (four from each side and one referee), were each ridden by a mahout and a player. Animal rights activists say that the mahout forces the elephant to run after the ball, threatening pain and punishment if the elephant does not respond accordingly.
It was in December 2018 when the polo was held for the last time in Nepal. It was marred by criticism and exposed animal cruelty to the world. However, despite the absence of popular sports, it’s charm hasn’t faded out. (ANI)
