Elephant Festival
Elephant Festival ( MARCH )
 The
Elephant Festival is an inimitable event held annually in Jaipur. Groomed
flawlessly, rows of elephants do a catwalk before an enthralled audience
liked best fashion models to make this festival an amazing one. The
elephants move with poise in pageant, run races, play the regal game of
polo, and finally participate in the spring festival of Holi. It is festival
time with elephants typically celebrated one day before the Holi, Indian
festival of colours.
Staged at Jaipur Chaugan Stadium elephants put up a variety
programme and the arena is brought alive with musician and dancer. The
crowd, which includes sizable presences of foreign and Indian tourist,
electrify the atmosphere. The festival starts with an impressive procession
of the majestic animals lovingly painted and tastefully attired with
glittering ornaments and embroidered velvets. There are deadly and fierce
elephant fights.
A ceremonial procession is recreated with caparisoned elephants, lancers on
horses, chariots, camels, cannons, and palanquins. Elephant is the centre of
attraction in the many races and beauty pageants.
Most of the participants are female elephants. The mahouts (elephant
keepers) take great care to decorate the elephants painting their trunks,
foreheads, and feet with floral motifs and adorning them from tusk to tail
with interesting trinkets. Female elephants wear anklets with and make music
as they walk.The game of polo forms the highlight of the festival. Dressed
in saffron and red turbans, the teams try to score goals with long sticks
and a plastic football. Finally, the tourists are invited to mount the
elephants and play Holi. Participants dance with great vigour and the
excitement rising to a crescendo.
 The
Rajput kings had extraordinary implication for elephants not only during war
but also during the royal festivities-a must at royal pageant.
Nishan-ka-hathi, the flag bearer, led the procession. The king always
mounted a caparisoned elephant. Special hunting programs and elephant fights
were organized to entertain the royal guests. Jaipur was a favourite spot
with the important personalities of the British Raj and the Maharajas always
arranged for their guests of honour elephant rides up to the Amber palace.
Even today, the mahouts take tourists up to the Amber Palace on elephant
back like shuttle taxis.
Rajasthan Tourism revitalized the ritual by including the Elephant Festival
in the cultural calendar. The present-day pageant, originated only a decade
ago, was worked out especially with the tourist in mind. The inclusion of
the game of polo is more recent, being inspired by a cartoon in Punch
magazine that showed the Indian polo team atop an elephant after it won all
the international tournaments. Every year on Holi, the old stadium at
Jaipur, the Chaugan (originally planned for elephants), makes the setting
for a stunning fete.
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