The fine art of making costumes for Kandy elephants

By Kalakeerthi Edwin Ariyadasa

“To my way of thinking there's something wrong or missing, with any person who hasn't got a soft spot in their heart for an animal of some kind.”
- William James (1842-1910) US psychologist and philosopher.

At a national level, we in Sri Lanka entertain a massive collective soft spot for the largest animal on land. Our attitude towards the elephant in general moves along in a fluctuating continuum of love-and-hate.

But the national adoration of the elephants associated with the sacred temple rituals has flourished over long centuries, undiminished.

The most privileged among the temple elephants are those that figure in the annual pageant of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic.

It has been generally noted that the elephants that form an elegant element in the globally renowned Kandy pageant receive highly focused attention, from local devotees and the visitors from abroad.

World record

At one time rumour had it that the sacred-casket-carrying Raja - the majestic elephant held a world record as the “most photographed animal on earth.”

The annual pageant in Kandy has been chronicled in detail throughout its long history.

In spite of such extensive celebration, there is an aspect of this sacred event, that has not been adequately looked at.

The glamorously caparisoned elephant, treading the pageant path, solemnly and with admirable dignity, contributes substantially to the total glitter and the sparkle of this compelling religious display.

What surprises many in this complex is the scant attention paid to the people who provide the elaborate costumes that the caparisoned elephants march in, escalating the spiritual fervour of the the on lookers.

Living repository

In a recent visit to Kandy, an opportunity came my way to meet the man who is centrally important to the process of discovering how these pageant elephants get gaily decked to perform their sacred task.

You must make it a special point to remember a highly significant name while we are on the subject of elephant costumes. The name is K.C. Thadhani who is immersed in the task of producing elephant caparisons with a single-minded commitment as a life-long mission.

He is a living repository of the multi-layered lore relating to the chequered history of caparisoning the elephants of the Kandy pageant.

He took to the production of caparisons for the elephants as part of his family heritage. In those early days the “costume” of the pageant - elephant had been improvised by sticking two bed sheets together. The binding that held the “costume” in place was so tight that the poor animal found it a torture to perform its natural bodily functions. Thadhani's father offered the first elephant costume that deserved the name as a family gift to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic.

Though importing cloth had been prohibited at the time, his father devised the caparison, utilising expensive material.

Filled with envy, an evil man accused his father of smuggling the cloth illegally from India.

His father sued the man who made this public accusation. In the litigation that followed his father was found to be not guilty. But his father did not accept the compensation. Eventually, Thadhani was put in charge of the production of elephant costumes.

Production process

He totally re-organised the production process. Taking a Burmese product as the prototype, he devised a costume utilising indigenous motifs. The caparison was padded for the comfort of the elephant and the art of elephant-caparisons entered into a new era of innovative character.

Thadhani comes from a family of 16 members. He is so thoroughly engrossed in the idea of being fully dedicated to the production of elephant costumes that he is not interested in returning to the land of his father.

Loyalty

Persuaded by his unswerving loyalty to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, he is now looking forward to the day when his daughter-in-law would take charge of the family business of creating costumes for the elephants.

He has a deep-seated affection for the elephants that march along in the pageant. He has seen several generations of casket-carrying elephants and incidents associated with some of those noble animals are indelibly etched in the recesses of his memory.

Over the years he observed keenly the loyalty of the elephants to the sacred site.

He sentimentally recalls how some of the elephants are moved after they have performed their perehara duty. Some of those noble elephants place their forehead on the steps of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic and remain motionless for a while.

He has witnessed how some elephants mark the end of the pageant with tear-filled eyes, giving vent to their inner feelings.

Thadhani provides elephant costumes to some other important religious places such as Gangarama in Colombo and the Bellanvila Temple.

According to him, the pachyderm lingo extensively used by elephant keepers in Sri Lanka is adapted from the Kerala region. He also notes that some well-known elephants in Sri Lankan temples, react to Sinhala. Vasana of Kataragama is cited as an example. When the mahout, tells Vasana (in Sinhala) that they have a long journey ahead of them and Vasana has to get ready with a sufficient supply of “fuel”. The elephant goes to a tap, turns it on and has a full drink, to be ready with a full-tank.He quotes the instance of a great tusker that is reluctant to be taken by truck, preferring to walk to safeguard his long tusks.

K.C. Thadhani tells us how some casket-bearing elephants, receive the adoration of devotees with a befitting look of dignity and solemnity.

K.C.T. said, when the elephant is caparisoned, it is fully conscious of its duty and responsibility.

The elephants marching in a pageant take special care to walk strictly along the foot-cloth.

Sensitivity

The caparisoning of elephants to make them really for the pageant is a task of high strategic sensitivity.

A whole team of people is in charge of the tasks that have to be performed to see that the noble animals are perfectly equal to their sacred duty.

K.C.T's team is ready to deck the ritual elephants in brand new caparisons for the forthcoming pageant.

Each passing year is a challenge to K.C.T. as he is bent on improving the costumes of his charges, season after season.

To him each ritual elephant is important and he considers his task as presenting these noble animals to the public, glamorously caparisoned as befits the sacred event they figure in.