Unlike human beings of a country, elephants hardly look different from one another in the eyes of common people. Despite the surprise of coming across temple elephants bearing names of human beings like Janaki and Kalyani, the general public refers to them just as Koyil Yaanaikal. With many of us being caught in the illusion that the home of such poor pachyderms is a temple, or sometimes a rejuvenation camp, we have forgotten that the jumbos' home is the jungle. At a time, when the modern man complains of wild elephants wreaking havoc on 'human habitations', it is an irony that only such 'human habitations' are causing havoc to the jumbos by blocking their natural corridors!
Unlike human beings of a country, elephants hardly look different from one another in the eyes of common people. Despite the surprise of coming across temple elephants bearing names of human beings like Janaki and Kalyani, the general public refers to them just as Koyil Yaanaikal. With many of us being caught in the illusion that the home of such poor pachyderms is a temple, or sometimes a rejuvenation camp, we have forgotten that the jumbos' home is the jungle. At a time, when the modern man complains of wild elephants wreaking havoc on 'human habitations', it is an irony that only such 'human habitations' are causing havoc to the jumbos by blocking their natural corridors!
A video of a wild elephant that was set on fire at Masinagudi recently went viral. The disturbing visual, which must have made the eyes of every viewer well up in tears, is sure to have reminded the history of man’s interference with wild elephants, as he hunted and tamed them for ages.
Megasthenes, a Greek historian and diplomat, in his book Indica, has documented how the hunters in India caught the wild male elephants by luring them using their tamed female ones.
The hunters first housed the female elephants in the Kedah (A large pit used to trap wild elephants) to attract the wild male jumbos that roamed in the woods at night. And once a wild elephant fell into the Kedah, the hunters made a tamed elephant pull the wild one out and fight with it until the latter got exhausted. Then they chained the wild one's legs and fastened its neck with a strong belt containing holes, into which the hunters drove sharp nails. Hence, the animal, unable to bear the pain, would not move its head to throw away the mahout seated on its back. Further, keeping the animal hungry for a certain period, they tamed it gradually by feeding it in green leaves and grass.
With the forests of the Chera kingdom comprising the Kongu region being rich in the elephant population, poet Arisil Kizhar, in his 77th song of Pathitru Paththu, a Sangam period work, compares the Chera king's elephant army to a large herd of the cattle owned by the Kongars (Natives of the ancient Kongunadu). In his depiction of a scene from a battle, the bard points out that the angry elephants attacked even the shadows of the predatory birds flying high.
On the other hand, the Chola kings, whose country had few forests, desired to possess such elephant armies. And one such king had ordered a chieftain named Ezhini to capture a great number of jumbos from the woods of the Chera country and bring them to him. But, with Ezhini disobeying his orders, the angry king got his teeth extracted and embedded them on his strong fort gate as a sign of victory and warning!
As read from chapters in history and regional literature, the state’s exercising of rights over forests is not something new today. Many of the denizens of Coimbatore, who are hardly aware of their town’s ancient history, have a wrong notion that the city was just a part of the Chera kingdom. But, it is fact that the geographical stretch of Kongunadu was once captured by the Chera kings for its forest wealth.
Anamalai, a small town after Pollachi, which means ‘mountain of elephants’ was the first place in Kongunadu captured by the Chera kings. A place, which was known for its elephant population, Anamalai had been called ‘Umbarkadu’ in the Sangam era with ‘Umbal’ meaning elephant and ‘Kadu’ forest.
“It is Palyaanai Selkazhu Kuttuvan, the younger brother of the Chera king Imayavaramban Neduncheralathan that captured Umbarkadu from the Kongu region” informs the late Tamil scholar Mayilai. Seeni. Venkatasamy in his book Kongunattu Varalaru.
Eve Killed for Eating the 'Forbidden' Fruit
Over 1800 years ago, on the orders of a king called Nannan, a girl was beheaded for just eating a mango!
The mango tree that stood near the king’s palace was considered to be sacred, as the king believed that all his victories in wars were mainly due to the sacred mango tree. Hence plucking mangoes from the tree and eating them was deemed as a crime punishable with death that no one dared to even touch the tree.
Nevertheless, one day, a beautiful girl from a rich family noticed a ripe fruit from the royal mango tree that came floating on the deep river where she was bathing. Since it was no crime to eat a mango that had naturally dropped from the tree, she picked it up and ate it at once. But the guards at the palace accused her of plucking the fruit and dragged her inside the palace. Without inquiring into the matter, king Nannan ordered that the girl be beheaded as a warning to others.
Seeking pardon for a crime that was not committed by her daughter, the girl’s father begged the king to show mercy on her. He even promised to present him as many as 81 elephants and a gold statue equal to her weight, if the king would consider sparing her life. However, the king ignored the plea.
Finally, on his orders, the girl was beheaded and her body was kept for public view at a ‘mayanam’ (graveyard) in a ‘sayanam’ (sleeping) posture.
Narrating the incident, the 292nd verse in Kurunthokai, a part of Sangam literature, Sangam poet Paranar condemns king Nannan as ‘Penkolai Purintha Nannan’ (Nannan who murdered a woman).
Unable to bear the injustice done by the king, the people, from then on, began worshiping the slain girl as their deity. They called her as ‘Mayana Sayani Amman’ (God lying asleep at the graveyard) – the name, in due course, got corrupted as Masaniamman!
The ‘deep river’ where she bathed is ‘Aliyaru’ or Aliyar today, and the man who is seen being trampled by the deity at her temple in Anamalai, is none other than king Nannan.
Remembering the Savior of Anamalais
Later on, the forests of the Kongu region were exploited by the British government too for its commercial gains.
Forest History of the Anamalais, a book published by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department, says that the objective of the British administration of clearing the forests was to have them as timber-producing properties, managed on commercial principles.
As the British government was in great requirement of timber to build ships and lay railway tracks, numerous trees were felled. As a result, the forests of Anamalai soon turned to be the victims of ruthless exploitation.
Those days, giant teak trees were axed down into logs and carried by the tamed wild elephants. Then from a particular point, the wooden logs were floated down the river of the plains. Interestingly, the spot, from where the logs were rolled down, came to be called ‘Top Slip’ which is a picturesque location with a salubrious climate on the Anamalai mountain range.
Anamalai still remembers a gem among the British conservators of forests for his yeoman service in stopping the exploitation of woods.
The British conservator Hugo Wood, who planted thousands of teak trees at Mount Stuart Block near Top Slip, breathed his last on December 12, 1933. With his ardent love for the trees he planted, Wood had expressed his wish that he should be buried amidst them. The Latin inscription on his tomb near Top Slip reads thus:
‘Si Monumentum Requiris Circumspice’”
The expression means “If you want to see a monument to remember me, just look around”
The dried leaves of the teak trees gently fall on Hugo’s grave and try waking him up from his long slumber.
A video of a wild elephant that was set on fire at Masinagudi recently went viral. The disturbing visual, which must have made the eyes of every viewer well up in tears, is sure to have reminded the history of man’s interference with wild elephants, as he hunted and tamed them for ages.
Megasthenes, a Greek historian and diplomat, in his book Indica, has documented how the hunters in India caught the wild male elephants by luring them using their tamed female ones.
The hunters first housed the female elephants in the Kedah (A large pit used to trap wild elephants) to attract the wild male jumbos that roamed in the woods at night. And once a wild elephant fell into the Kedah, the hunters made a tamed elephant pull the wild one out and fight with it until the latter got exhausted. Then they chained the wild one's legs and fastened its neck with a strong belt containing holes, into which the hunters drove sharp nails. Hence, the animal, unable to bear the pain, would not move its head to throw away the mahout seated on its back. Further, keeping the animal hungry for a certain period, they tamed it gradually by feeding it in green leaves and grass.
With the forests of the Chera kingdom comprising the Kongu region being rich in the elephant population, poet Arisil Kizhar, in his 77th song of Pathitru Paththu, a Sangam period work, compares the Chera king's elephant army to a large herd of the cattle owned by the Kongars (Natives of the ancient Kongunadu). In his depiction of a scene from a battle, the bard points out that the angry elephants attacked even the shadows of the predatory birds flying high.
On the other hand, the Chola kings, whose country had few forests, desired to possess such elephant armies. And one such king had ordered a chieftain named Ezhini to capture a great number of jumbos from the woods of the Chera country and bring them to him. But, with Ezhini disobeying his orders, the angry king got his teeth extracted and embedded them on his strong fort gate as a sign of victory and warning!
As read from chapters in history and regional literature, the state’s exercising of rights over forests is not something new today. Many of the denizens of Coimbatore, who are hardly aware of their town’s ancient history, have a wrong notion that the city was just a part of the Chera kingdom. But, it is fact that the geographical stretch of Kongunadu was once captured by the Chera kings for its forest wealth.
Anamalai, a small town after Pollachi, which means ‘mountain of elephants’ was the first place in Kongunadu captured by the Chera kings. A place, which was known for its elephant population, Anamalai had been called ‘Umbarkadu’ in the Sangam era with ‘Umbal’ meaning elephant and ‘Kadu’ forest.
“It is Palyaanai Selkazhu Kuttuvan, the younger brother of the Chera king Imayavaramban Neduncheralathan that captured Umbarkadu from the Kongu region” informs the late Tamil scholar Mayilai. Seeni. Venkatasamy in his book Kongunattu Varalaru.
Eve Killed for Eating the 'Forbidden' Fruit
Over 1800 years ago, on the orders of a king called Nannan, a girl was beheaded for just eating a mango!
The mango tree that stood near the king’s palace was considered to be sacred, as the king believed that all his victories in wars were mainly due to the sacred mango tree. Hence plucking mangoes from the tree and eating them was deemed as a crime punishable with death that no one dared to even touch the tree.
Nevertheless, one day, a beautiful girl from a rich family noticed a ripe fruit from the royal mango tree that came floating on the deep river where she was bathing. Since it was no crime to eat a mango that had naturally dropped from the tree, she picked it up and ate it at once. But the guards at the palace accused her of plucking the fruit and dragged her inside the palace. Without inquiring into the matter, king Nannan ordered that the girl be beheaded as a warning to others.
Seeking pardon for a crime that was not committed by her daughter, the girl’s father begged the king to show mercy on her. He even promised to present him as many as 81 elephants and a gold statue equal to her weight, if the king would consider sparing her life. However, the king ignored the plea.
Finally, on his orders, the girl was beheaded and her body was kept for public view at a ‘mayanam’ (graveyard) in a ‘sayanam’ (sleeping) posture.
Narrating the incident, the 292nd verse in Kurunthokai, a part of Sangam literature, Sangam poet Paranar condemns king Nannan as ‘Penkolai Purintha Nannan’ (Nannan who murdered a woman).
Unable to bear the injustice done by the king, the people, from then on, began worshiping the slain girl as their deity. They called her as ‘Mayana Sayani Amman’ (God lying asleep at the graveyard) – the name, in due course, got corrupted as Masaniamman!
The ‘deep river’ where she bathed is ‘Aliyaru’ or Aliyar today, and the man who is seen being trampled by the deity at her temple in Anamalai, is none other than king Nannan.
Remembering the Savior of Anamalais
Later on, the forests of the Kongu region were exploited by the British government too for its commercial gains.
Forest History of the Anamalais, a book published by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department, says that the objective of the British administration of clearing the forests was to have them as timber-producing properties, managed on commercial principles.
As the British government was in great requirement of timber to build ships and lay railway tracks, numerous trees were felled. As a result, the forests of Anamalai soon turned to be the victims of ruthless exploitation.
Those days, giant teak trees were axed down into logs and carried by the tamed wild elephants. Then from a particular point, the wooden logs were floated down the river of the plains. Interestingly, the spot, from where the logs were rolled down, came to be called ‘Top Slip’ which is a picturesque location with a salubrious climate on the Anamalai mountain range.
Anamalai still remembers a gem among the British conservators of forests for his yeoman service in stopping the exploitation of woods.
The British conservator Hugo Wood, who planted thousands of teak trees at Mount Stuart Block near Top Slip, breathed his last on December 12, 1933. With his ardent love for the trees he planted, Wood had expressed his wish that he should be buried amidst them. The Latin inscription on his tomb near Top Slip reads thus:
‘Si Monumentum Requiris Circumspice’”
The expression means “If you want to see a monument to remember me, just look around”
The dried leaves of the teak trees gently fall on Hugo’s grave and try waking him up from his long slumber.