Idukki: Arikomban might no longer be roaming in Chinnakkanal, but a farmer-turned-cocoa trader has erected an impressive concrete sculpture of the jumbo to remember the good fortune it brought him.
V K Babu, a resident of Punnayar at Thallakkanam in Kanjikuzhi near Cheruthoni here, said he was fascinated by the elephant, which used to raid houses and ration shops to eat rice. After two relocations -- first by the Kerala Forest Department and the second by its Tamil Nadu counterparts -- Arikomban is now roaming around in Kanyakumari Wildlife Sanctuary.
Babu said it took nearly six months for him to conceptualise and execute the idea of erecting an 8-feet sculpture of the jumbo. “Artist and sculptor Malayil Binu helped me in setting up the concrete sculpture and I described to him the minute features of the jumbo," he said. He spent nearly Rs 2 lakh to complete the project.
He was able to provide exact details because he has seen the elephant from a close range in Chinnakanal once it entered his ginger farm a few years ago. "I have a fascination for wild jumbos and I have seen ‘Arikomban’ from a close range inside my ginger farm. It was six years ago and I watched the strongly built wild tusker with awe from a close range.
"In those days, the ‘Arikomban’ was not creating any trouble in the area other than the occasional farmlands raids and partial destruction of crops. There were six jumbos in the area that often ventured into the Chinnakanal region by crossing the reservoir of the Aanayirangal dam,” Babu said.
He used to cultivate ginger in leased fields near 301 and 308 Colonies in the Chinnakanal region. The land there was so fertile that he made good profits. “Though jumbos cause large-scale destructions for plantain and other crops, in the case of ginger farming an elephant raid is beneficial. Tribal people used to tell me that if the jumbo tramples upon a ginger crop, that part of the farm will get a good yield. I have found that to be true from my experience,” he said.
“As I have started cocoa trading in Kanjikuzhi, I thought of erecting a sculpture of my favourite jumbo,” Babu added.
