Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve Hosts the Inaugural Hathi Mahotsav

The Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve management ensures the well-being of all animals, including tigers. On Saturday, a seven-day ‘Hathi Mahotsav’ was inaugurated at the reserve’s elephant camp, with PCCF Wildlife Shri V.N. Ambade in attendance. The celebration began with the elephants being bathed, adorned, and treated to a variety of fruits, sugarcane, coconut, and jaggery. To prioritize their health, the elephants will not be assigned any work for the entire week.

In the daily routine of elephants for seven days, the elephants are given a bath in the morning and then massaged with neem and castor oil. All the elephants are decorated and fed with their favorite dishes. After this, they are fed bread and left free to roam freely in the forest.

In the Elephant Festival at Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, elephants are welcomed with special food for seven days. The elephants are given bananas, guavas, coconut water, sugarcane, seasonal fruits, maize, and 10 chapattis. Each chapati weighs about one kg. During the Mahotsav, villagers from nearby areas reach Rama Camp at Tala Gate with their families and feed fruits to the elephants. They get photos clicked with elephants and familiarize themselves with their daily routine.

The Mahotsav aims to provide relaxation to the elephants and their mahouts. Also, it is meant to familiarize the villagers with elephants and their behaviour. For this, everyone is allowed to the Mahotsav. The Mahotsav also aims to remove the misconceptions spread in rural areas about forest animals.