Plight of the Elephants

Our itinerary had us riding an elephant up the ramp and in through the Sun Gate, the gate the Maharaja used when entering the Amer Fort in Jaipur. Elephants were used a lot for ceremonial and triumphant processions, and are still used for weddings to make a grand entrance.

But we have learned how hard this is on the elephants, which work day and night, walking on hard stone, carrying weight. We decided to decline the ride and ask if we could walk instead. How happy we were when our guide preempted our request by telling us that we would be taking a jeep up the back way, through the Moon Gate (used in ancient times by the military) as the company was not supportive of the abuse inflicted on elephants.

We saw the line of these lovely creatures climbing up the hill, carrying one or more tourists in a procession, back and forth, some decorated with washable paint so that they could immediately be walked to their evening’s job, a wedding. 

I hope more and more companies act as our guide’s company does and avoids this extra imposition on such a wonderful animal, however thrilling it is to ride an elephant in such a historic location.