Peelandy Chandru, the elephant who created a reign of terror in the Attapadi area of Palakkad district killing nine persons, has become sober now thanks to the training imparted at the Elephant Training Centre in Kodanad.
Chandru arrived at the Kodanad Elephant Training Centre run by the forest department about three years ago. The elephant had created terror in the Attapadi area for a couple of decades earning the name “Peelandy”.
When the elephant reached the Kodanad training centre it was given a new name - Chandrashekharan alias Chandru. What followed was three years of rigorous training under the watchful eyes of the trainers which made Chandru a "new elephant."
Chandru obeyed the instructions of his trainers at the centre like a baby elephant and picked up the directions quickly. The first lesson was to respond to being called by name. This was followed by an elephant walk during religious rituals, pulling wooden logs and holding loads of grass in its trunk.
What remains now is the practice to carry idols on the forehead during religious festivals and procession and to wear “nettipattam”, the golden head covering known as elephant caparison.
Chandru was trained in an enclosure made of eucalyptus logs. Three mahouts Murukan, Thankappan and M C Ayyappankutty stayed in a makeshift shed adjacent to the enclosure for a year and took care of the elephant 24/7. The elephant used to wake up and go to sleep seeing Murukan and Ayappan.
The elephant was given food of its choice. Green gram, jaggery, ragi, rice, dates, banana used to be mixed and rolled into balls to feed the elephant. The daily showers, cleaning, bathing and the affection of mahouts triggered the positive instincts in the elephant.
