Elephant bidding farewell to dead Kerala mahout melts hearts

Damodaran Nair or Omanachettan as he was fondly called, was a Mahout of the elephant "Brahmadathan" in Pala of Kerala for the past twenty-five years.

The mahout who was fighting cancer passed away on June 3 and as per his last wish, family members and other mahouts brought Brahmadathan to see the body of Damodaran Nair.

The owner of the elephant, Rajesh Palattu while speaking with IANS said, "Brahmadathan touched the body of Damodaran Nair with his trunk and then raised his trunk and lowered it and was indeed paying his last respects to the departed mahout. This led to the wife of Omanachettan breaking down and we were all moved with tears rolling down our cheeks. It was one of the most trying parting moments one could witness."

The video of this has now gone viral on social media.

The elephant was owned by a person in Puthupally in Kottayam district of Kerala and was later bought by Manoj and Rajesh Palattu of Pala in the same district.

It was after Brahmadathan was bought by Rajesh, that he came into contact with Damodaran Nair who was a mahout and elephant trainer.

"The bond and love between the two - Damodaran Nair and Brahmadathan was one to watch and emulate", Rajesh, the owner of the elephant told IANS.

Damodaran has been a Mahout for the past sixty years and was also a renowned elephant trainer. According to Rajesh and other elephant lovers of Kottayam and nearby places who frequently see the duo of Damodaran Nair and Brahmadathan were inseparable and the former treated him like his own son.

The video of Brahmadathan paying his last respects to his Mahout was shared by an IFS officer, Praveen Kaswan on Twitter and has turned viral with several people sharing it and expressing their condolences and on the gesture of the elephant.

Agencies