The world’s most notorious elephant prison, called “Punnathur Kotta,” aka the “Guruvayur Captive Elephant Sanctuary” , is adjacent to the UNESCO World Heritage Site – the Guruvayur Temple. Tourists from around the world travel here, many having been led to believe that the elephants at this concentration camp are happy and well cared for. They are oblivious to the dark truth behind the shackled elephants and their weaving motions. 
“Elephants are constantly chained, many by front and back legs simultaneously. Many are chained so tightly they can hardly move, others constantly rock and sway due to stress. Terrible to witness in the 21st century.” Said one review post of this camp on a tourism website - Tripadvisor. 
A group of 10 to 15 drunken men will beat the living daylight out of the elephant bulls, a brutal practice is called “Katti Adikkal,” which means “tied and beaten.” This is done to control the male elephants in a very peculiar and inhuman ways during the elephant mating season till the spirit of the animal is broken. 
It’s also common practice to control every movement of the animal with a long pole stuck behind the bull’s ear, enforcing the so-called “freeze” position. If the bull moves too much, the pole will fall, and he will be punished. The atrocities meted out against Kerala elephants, including this prison, are exposed in Gods in Shackles- a book written on the plight of these poor creatures of god by Sangita Iyer.

The impoverished nature of the captive environment has detrimental consequences for the brain of these creatures kept and bred in captivity. they suffer from traumatic stress, long term depression and reduced life period with no retirement benefits even after serving for so long for the humans in captivity. 
Complacency and apathy have no place in an era confronting the sixth mass extinction. Asian elephants are vanishing at an unprecedented rate. With only 40,000 of them left on the entire planet and 27,000 of them in India, we need to do everything in our power to protect them in their last bastion. Only collectively can we end the suffering of elephants and foster compassion towards these majestic animals.

it’s time we put an end to trading of these animals that happens every year in the month of Kerala where young calves and their mothers are stolen from their native environments and sold at a fair called “Sonpur Mela”. Pls help stop this trade by supporting the petition against these inhuman crimes being conflicted on these majestic creatures. 

all credits to this writing to Ms. Sangita Iyer - Founder, Voice of Asian Elephants Society, National Geographic Explorer, Wildlife Film Maker, Biologist and Broadcast Journalist