Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad   

‘Vanaja’ gets trained for Bonalu fete

— PHOTO: P. V. Sivakumar

GETTING READY: Vanaja, the elephant, will carry the ‘Bonalu’ ghatams during the festivities over the next few weeks.

Hyderabad: It maybe just another walk for Vanaja, a forty-year-old elephant that has seen many a procession since the last three years. But with the Bonalu procession day drawing nearer, officials are a worried lot. Vanaja, which participated in the Moharrum procession last year, got a little panicky causing alarm among the processionists and officials.

Mahouts are sparing no efforts to train Vanaja not to react in different situations. For the past few months, special efforts are being made to get it accustomed to crowds. Mohammed Khaja, Vanaja’s mahout for the past three years, is confident that there will not be any deviant behaviour during the procession as she had been walking and mingling with crowds at the zoo regularly. The elephant is also being exposed to loud noises of late keeping the noise levels that will be prevalent during Bonalu processions.

According to Zoo Curator A. Sudhakar, Vanaja will be taking part in two processions that will be held on August 5 and 6 from Sabzimandi and Shah Ali Banda respectively. During the procession, Vanaja will be accompanied by mahout and six zoo staff including a veterinary doctor.

Certain conditions laid by the officials at the Nehru Zoological Park stating that no person should be allowed to stand within 100 metres of the elephant and bright colours such as white and red that annoy the animal, should not be worn. Also, the organisers have been told not to burst any firecrackers in the vicinity of the pachyderm.

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