Sulthan Bathery: An Onam trip to Gundlupet in Karnataka to enjoy its famed flower gardens turned into a terrifying experience for a family from Muttil near here on Friday, when they had a narrow escape after a wild elephant from a herd charged their car inside the Bandipur National Park.

Fr. Reji Paul, priest of St. Thomas Jacobite Syrian Church, Thrikkaipatta, and his family were returning to Sulthan Bathery after visiting the flower gardens in Gundlupet when the incident occurred in the afternoon. What began as a leisurely family outing soon turned into a terrifying encounter with a furious wild elephant, with the animal charging their car twice.

According to Fr. Reji Paul, the family was travelling through the Bandipur National Park when they spotted a herd of elephants crossing the road. A few vehicles were travelling ahead of their car. As the herd slowly crossed the road and entered the forest, there appeared to be nothing unusual.

Passengers in a tourist vehicle in front of their car were busy taking photographs and videos of the elephants. Even after the herd had crossed the road, the traveller remained stationary on the road as its passengers continued filming, resulting in traffic piling up behind it.

Fr. Reji Paul said the driver of the vehicle behind the traveller sounded the horn, apparently asking the driver ahead to move forward as traffic had come to a standstill. The sudden sound of the horn, however, appeared to anger an elephant that was at the rear of the herd.

“The elephant suddenly turned back and charged towards us. The two vehicles in front of us sped away after seeing the elephant return, leaving us trapped behind them. We had to bear the brunt of the situation,” Fr. Reji Paul told Onmanorama.

The elephant charged the car for the first time before retreating. The children inside the vehicle began crying, and some of the family members started praying. “The second charge was much more frightening. The gigantic animal came extremely close to our car and, for a moment, I thought it was the end. Thankfully, the elephant stopped and turned away without hitting the vehicle,” he said.

The dramatic visuals of the encounter, which Fr. Reji Paul initially shared in a church group on Saturday, later went viral on social media, drawing both sympathy and criticism. Some viewers accused the family of disturbing the elephants, while others advised motorists to exercise greater caution and follow proper wildlife-watching etiquette while travelling through forest roads.

However, those who saw only the initial video were left with the impression that Fr. Reji Paul and his family had themselves disturbed the elephant herd. The other two vehicles ahead of their car were not clearly visible in the original footage, as they quickly moved away when the elephant turned back. His phone also received countless phone calls from well-wishers regarding the incident.

The criticism prompted Fr. Reji Paul to release a detailed explanation along with another video recorded by passengers in a different vehicle. The footage clearly showed the two vehicles ahead of his car and appeared to establish that his family had been trapped behind the vehicles when the elephant returned to the road.

The incident has left the family deeply shaken but also grateful to have escaped unharmed.

For the family, what began as a joyful Onam outing to enjoy the colourful flower gardens of Gundlupet ended as a frightening reminder of the unpredictability and power of wildlife in its natural habitat.