To whom the tribute is paying? Is he a freedom fighter? Musician? Politician?
Other than the keralites, all people will think what was the specialty of this
elephant to which keralites are paying tributes? Of course so many people other
than keralites who went to guruvayur asking me whats the speciality of this
elephant? Well,
I narrate the heart touching real incident of this Hero. This real incident has
been told as a story by my achan & amma while I was a kid. Heard of an
elephant observing Ekadasi vratam? To understand the greatness of this elephant
we have to be a true/pure human being. So leaving behind all the animal
instincts hidden in ourselves (if any), let us have a close look at the divine
qualities of this animal. The name of this famous elephant was Guruvayoor Kesavan.
Guruvayoorappan Lord Krishna is one of the famous God of
God’s own country who has a distinct place in every heart and every household and of
course my achan’s favorite deity. Guruvayur temple has very good facilities to
maintain elephants at Punnathurkotta. Guruvayur kesavan is regarded as the most
prominent devotee elephant of Guruvayoor, the deity at Kerala. It was one of
the majestic elephant which served the Lord in all its sincerity and
uniqueness. Valiya Raja of Nilambur once prayed to the Lord to save his
family and property from the enemies attack. He promised to offer one of his
many elephants if his wish is fulfilled. (It is a common Hindu custom in Kerala
and many devotees offer cows, gold, silver, and elephants to Lord Krishna at
Guruvayoor, as a demonstration of their devotion). So his wish was fulfilled
and he offered an elephant in the year 1916, which later became the famous
Guruvayur Kesavan.
On
his arrival, Kesavan was 10 years old and elephant Padmanabhan was the
undisputed king. Young Kesavan acquired all the kingly gestures and nobleness
of Padmanabhan and even excelled him. He had his own rules. He is very choosy
in food habits; He will never allow anyone to climb on his top through his
front leg. This place was reserved only for the person who holds the
Lord's idol. All others need to climb through his behind leg. Kesavan was
sometimes referred to as eccentric and wonder. People say’s that the elephant
held his head always higher in comparison to his peers and demonstrated a weird
perceptivity or sixth sense. There were occasions when Kesavan got annoyed by
the action of his mahouts. But he never caused any bodily harm to anyone. He
sometimes was called "Lunatic Kesavan", but never spoiled any
sanctity.
Once he was hurrying to the temple, disobeying the
mahouts. Everybody in the unity fled for
fear of being trembled once by it except a poor, helpless leper. As the people
watched with fear, they were astonished when they saw that Kesavan had actually
lifted the leper with his trunk, placed him safely in a corner, and proceeded
straight to the temple. Even if he became wild outside Guruvayur, he would
straightaway come to Guruvayur, go round the temple and stood where he used to
be chained. This transformed him into an ideal elephant.
In
the year 1973 Kesavan was conferred the unique title "Gajarajan"
(Elephant King), by the Guruvayoor Devaswom for his intelligence, good
behaviour and his love and devotion towards the Lord Guruvayoorappan. He served
the Lord in the temple for all processions, festivals and ceremonies until his
death in 1976. Even his death was on the auspicious day of
Guruvayoor Ekadasi, the elephant also observed fast that day and turning
towards the temple, looking at the temple, with his trunk raised as if saluting
the Lord, he left his body and attained his Moksha.The Guruvayoor Devaswom
erected a life-size statue of Keshavan in its precincts as tribute to the
services he rendered to the presiding deity of the temple. Its tusks, along
with a majestic portrait of the elephant, can be still seen adorning the
entrance to the main temple enclosure. The anniversary of its death is still
celebrated in Guruvauyur. Many elephants line up before the statue and the
chief elephant garlands it.
All of us feel the need to be loved, to be cared
for, and be it a human or an animal. Humans express their feelings, not all animals/pets
do, but even they have their own ways of expression. Extreme love and devotion
towards the God not the specialty of man only and there are numerous examples
of animals who were remembered for there deep love emotion and their faith
towards the Lord. Gajendra moksham from Bhagavatham and the Guruvayoor Keshavan
are the best examples of elephants who were illustrious devotees and their reverence
and devotion to the Lord are much higher in plain than that of human beings.
The devotion of Kesavan to the lord is no exaggeration. An elephant who served
the lord with utmost devotion without ever chanting the slokas for 54 years,
without anticipating anything. These legends are the most common in the state
of Kerala and told to the young children in order to create a sense of love and
respect towards the faith and their religion in their mind, from the young age.
The elephant, Guruvayur Keshavan still lives in
the heart and mind of the Keralites through the narratives they get to hear
from their older generations. The anniversary of its death is still celebrated
in Guruvauyur. My father use to say that who have seen him will never forget
Kesavan and we have his photo in my house. Every keralite where ever they are, will
have the photos or calendars of this gajaraja kesavan. When ever I visit
guruvayur I will bow infront of his statue and ask to give his blessings towards pure
path of faith and devotion.
So on this special dwadasi day after my fasting rituals a small tribute in my own way, posting this article in my blog. Even though I literally have not seen this great soul as I was unborn while he is alive but my heart always pays a great respect towards his dedication true faith and devotion. It does not matter if it is human being or an elephant. All Beings big and small are part of the Lord. Several beings took birth as birds and animals to be close to the Lord, when He existed in His body. Many beings take birth to be close to the Lord even now. This story of a devotee in the body of an elephant is quite an example. Bhakti (Devotion) always is holier than the Knowledge and associated ego. Love conquers all. Eternal love unmistakably flows from the Lord to all beings, who are receptive to it. Last but not least I believe 'Human life is the most precious thing that God has gifted us, with time being the most essential content of it'. So I desire to live each and every moment of life with full happiness and satisfaction.
courtesy: Image from net and
Few real incident narration from Bhaktha priya.
Especially thanks to my Amma.
