PALAKKAD, July 6: Though jumbo-sized problems and risks are part of rearing elephants, for brothers M A Parameswaran and Haridas of Mangalamkunnu they are family pets. They have got 14 elephants, making them the largest individual owners in Kerala after the Guruvayur Devaswom. The duo are averse to deputing their jumbos for pulling logs of wood, usually done by female elephants. So only tuskers form part of their brigade. Of the 42 elephants with the Guruvayur Devaswom, only 33 are tuskers.

Among the prize acquisitions of the duo is Mangalamkunnu Ganapathy, 9.75 feet high. Ganapathy is in great demand for ezhunnellippus as it is endowed with many features mentioned in Madangaleela, the book containing details of elephants. Parameswaran and Haridas forayed into the elephant business in 1978 when they bought Ayyappankutty from Uttar Pradesh for Rs 22,100. Adds Haridas: ``Since 1978, we have been purchasing one elephant every two years.

``But now the price of elephants varies from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 20 lakh depending mainly on their character and features,'' says Parameswaran.An elephant gets on an average 100 ezhunnellippus every season. The rate during the lean season is Rs 1,000 per ezhunnellippu which could rise to Rs 5,000 and above during Sivarathri, Bharani and important temple festivals.Chandrasekharan, Lakshmanan and Subramaniam owned by the brothers have also been used in an advertisement for a popular television manufacturing company.The revenue from ezhunnellippus compensates for the expenses incurred on the elephant during the whole year. Incomes from shooting television advertisements and movies, renting out to foreigners for rides and for mega-weddings in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh add to the income.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.