Elephants carved in rosewood

Elephants are an integral part of daily life in Kerala - from temple festivals to cultural functions you can find them everywhere.

Now, two artisans, Anil Kumar and Binil Kumar in Thiruvananthapuram are in the news for making perhaps Kerala's biggest rosewood tuskers.

And now, these sculptures will enjoy the pride of place at Shanthigiri Ashram near Thiruvananthapuram.

At first glance these sculptures can be mistaken for real elephants. Kumars worked on these sculptures for over two years taking care of every single characteristic of elephants.

"We are lucky that we could finish the work. We are very happy and are filled with joy as we could complete this project," says Anil Kumar, sculptor.

Anil's happiness isn't exaggerated considering the fact that the siblings painstakingly carved 300 cubic feet of rose wood to give shape to the sculptures. The bigger one is 7 feet tall and the smaller 5.5 feet. Both together weigh more than 4 tonnes. And the price - well, it is anybody's guess!

"Elephants are something Guru (Karunakara Guru who established Shanthigiri Ashram) used to like. We thought we will put two elephants as part of decoration. Our people have been doing this for last three four years and it's wonderfully done," says Babu, an inmate at the Shanthigiri Ashram.

The elephant sculptures will adorn the entrance of 91feet tall lotus shaped monument, an architectural marvel that is coming up at the Shanthigiri Asharam.