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Punnathoorkotta
Location: 2 km from the Guruvayoor Sree Krishna Temple,Thrissur
District.
Visiting hours: 9:30 am to 5:30 pm.
Over forty elephants are groomed at the Punnathur kotta ( kotta means
'fort'). Many elephants are brought as ritual offering to the temple.
You can spend a whole day with these huge mammals here.
Watching the naughty baby elephants' playful antics is an entertaining
experience. The place provides you an opportunity to watch how the sick
elephants are medically treated in the traditional manner. One can also
watch the training given to the elephants for various ritualistic performances.
Remember you are in the land where people worship the elephant-faced
god Lord Ganapathy.Grooming elephants was considered a status symbol.
With the decay of the joint family system, supporting elephants became
a financial burden for many families.Gradually various temple managements
took the charge of looking after these animals.Anyhow, even today elephants
play a key role in Kerala's fairs and festivals.
Getting there:Guruvayoor is about 32 km from Thrissur town.
Nearest
railway station : Guruvayoor station is at a walkable distance from
the shrine.
Nearest airport : Cochin International Airport, about 58 km from
Thrissur town.
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