Elephant Camp and Mahout Village in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve.
Credit: X/@supriyasahuias
Chennai: Elephant Whisperers (mahouts) in Tamil Nadu now have a second village dedicated to them after Theppakadu in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in the picturesque Nilgiris district.
On Monday, Chief Minister M K Stalin inaugurated the Mahout Village at Kozhikamuthi in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve in Coimbatore.
Built at a cost of Rs 5.4 crores, the Mahout Village has 47 homes specially designed for Mahouts and Kavadis from the tribal community, who have cared for generations of elephants.
“From layout to cultural design their inputs have been incorporated. Kozhikamuthi Mahout Village is a tribute to the unbreakable bond between elephants and their keepers,” Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary (Environment and Forests), said.
The plight of mahouts and caretakers of elephants at camps was vividly captured in The Elephant Whisperers, the Oscar-award winning documentary, in 2023. Belli and Bomman had requested houses for mahouts and caretakers like them in March 2023 when Chief Minister M K Stalin welcomed them at the Secretariat here after the documentary won Oscars.
The first ‘Mahout Village’, a first in the country, with 44 houses dedicated to Mahout and Kavadi who take care of elephants was inaugurated in the Nilgiris on May 13.
The Elephant Camp too has undergone a makeover at a cost of INR 5 Crores providing better facilities. Powered by a first of its kind Microgrid by solar plus Lithium Battery Energy Storage System, this village stands as a model of sustainability and respect for indigenous caregivers, Sahu said.
The system combines a 124 kWp solar plant, 516 kWh battery bank, and a 100 kW inverter, ensuring round-the-clock reliable electricity. With two days of autonomy even in low-light or rainy conditions, the system provides uninterrupted green power to the camp and 47 mahout households.
Sahu said this initiative not only ensures round-the-clock reliable power for the community but also demonstrates a sustainable and eco-friendly model of energy independence in one of Tamil Nadu’s most iconic elephant camps.
The century-old elephant camp in Theppakadu brought out vividly in the Oscar-winning short film The Elephant Whisperers is one of the oldest in Asia, serving as home to jumbos that are orphaned and are in need of rehabilitation.
Theppakadu Elephant Camp, which was established in 1917 by the British regime, currently houses 28 camp elephants, including those jumbos captured and rescued by the Forest Department. The mahouts and caretakers spent quite a lot of time taming jumbos that go on a rampage and tending to the calves that have been orphaned.