The bond between animals and their human companions is a unique one. We have often heard inspiring stories of man-animal relationships and thanks to the Internet, we are now familiar with such stories from different parts of the world. A moving example of this came to the fore recently in the form of a video from Kerala's Kottayam district. The clip features an elephant bidding farewell to his late mahout. The video moved social media users and soon went viral across various platforms.
In the video, we can see the elephant walking down a lane to the front yard of the house to see his mahout's body before he is taken for his last rites. The elephant, identified as Pallattu Brahmadathan, stands in front of the verandah and raises his trunk twice before the body of his mahout, Kunnakkad Damodaran Nair, fondly called Omanachettan by the people of the area.
After the elephant raises his trunk for the second time, a man from the house steps out to pat him before resting his head on Brahmadathan's tusk. The man was identified as Rajesh, Mr. Nair's son. The sight moves people gathered at the house to tears. After a few moments, Brahmadathan retreats but not before paying one last salute to his mahout by raising his trunk.
The video was shared on Facebook on Thursday by a user who wrote, “This is what happened when elephant Brahmadantan came to pay his respects to his mahout, Omanachettan, who passed away today.” The video has been viewed more than 7.96 lakh times in less than 24 hours. It has also garnered over 24,000 ‘reactions' and over 10,000 ‘comments'.
The comments section was filled with social media users paying respect to the late mahout and celebrating the relationship between him and his beloved elephant.
The video was also shared on Twitter by Indian Forest Service officer, Parveen Kaswan, who said he received the video on WhatsApp. He wrote, “Touching. Elephant paying last respect to his mahout.” On the microblogging site, the video received more than 10,600 views within a few hours.
Touching. Elephant paying last respect to his Mahout. WA forward. pic.twitter.com/lZjBRyEdpO
— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) June 4, 2021
Reacting to the video, one user said, “Touching. This elephant lost his best friend and a family member.. and it could be felt through his emotion...”
Touching..
— Punam Kerketta (@kerketta_punam) June 4, 2021
This elephant lost his best friend and a family member.. and it could be felt through his emotion..
Though, in the wild elephants avoid any dead animals(or humans) ..
Another user said, “Unlike we humans, this shows how loyal an animal stays for their owners till their last breath...”
Unlike we humans, this shows how loyal an animal stays for their owners till their last breath. Salute to this loyalty. Very touching, indeed!????
— Anand Padhee (@PadheeAnand) June 4, 2021
“Affection towards his caretaker is evident from the body language. Video went viral in Kerala. Elephant's name is Brahmadathan,” one user confirmed.
Affection towards his caretaker is evident from the body language. Video went viral in Kerala. Elephant's name is Brahmadathan.❤️????❤️ @ParveenKaswan Thank You for sharing. https://t.co/q5bgHI3U1I
— Sunil Nair (@Straight_Spine) June 4, 2021
Another user termed the relationship between them to be “harmonious”.
What a harmonious relationship between two elements of nature.. https://t.co/6WhMYokU5v
— Rutvij Parekh (@21st_Guns) June 4, 2021
Tell us what you think of this heartwarming video.
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