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 The Elephant Festival is an inimitable
event held annually in Jaipur. Groomed flawlessly,
rows of
elephants do a catwalk before an enthralled audience liked
best fashion models to make this festival an amazing one.
The elephants move with poise in pageant, run races, play
the regal game of polo, and finally participate in the
spring festival of Holi. It is festival time with
elephants typically celebrated one day before the Holi,
Indian festival of colours.
Staged at Jaipur Chaugan Stadium elephants put up a
variety programme and the arena is brought alive with
musician and dancer. The crowd, which includes sizable
presences of foreign and Indian tourist, electrify the
atmosphere. The festival starts with an impressive
procession of the majestic animals lovingly painted and
tastefully attired with glittering ornaments and
embroidered velvets. There are deadly and fierce elephant
fights.
A ceremonial procession is recreated with caparisoned
elephants, lancers on horses, chariots, camels, cannons,
and palanquins. Elephant is the centre of attraction in
the many races and beauty pageants.
 Most of the participants are female elephants. The mahouts
(elephant keepers) take great care to decorate the
elephants painting their trunks, foreheads, and feet with
floral motifs and adorning them from tusk to tail with
interesting trinkets. Female elephants wear anklets with
and make music as they walk.The game of polo forms the
highlight of the festival. Dressed in saffron and red
turbans, the teams try to score goals with long sticks and
a plastic football.
Finally, the tourists are invited to mount the elephants
and play Holi. Participants dance with great vigour and
the excitement rising to a crescendo.
 The Rajput kings had
extraordinary implication for elephants not only during
war but also during the royal festivities-a must at royal
pageant. Nishan-ka-hathi, the flag bearer, led the
procession. The king always mounted a caparisoned
elephant. Special hunting programs and elephant fights
were organized to entertain the royal guests. Jaipur was a
favourite spot with the important personalities of the
British Raj and the Maharajas always arranged for their
guests of honour elephant rides up to the Amber palace.
Even today, the mahouts take tourists up to the Amber
Palace on elephant back like shuttle taxis.
Rajasthan Tourism
revitalized the ritual by including the Elephant Festival
in the cultural calendar. The present-day pageant,
originated only a decade ago, was worked out especially
with the tourist in mind. The inclusion of the game of
polo is more recent, being inspired by a cartoon in Punch
magazine that showed the Indian polo team atop an elephant
after it won all the international tournaments. Every year
on Holi, the old stadium at Jaipur, the
Chaugan (originally planned for elephants), makes the
setting for a stunning fete. |
