CK Nayak in Nay Pye Taw
One must have read about the white elephants and might have seen it in the film ‘Safed Hati’. But a visit to this capital city of Myanmar one can see the real animals.
A white elephant, an albino, is a rare kind of elephant but not a distinct species. Its skin is soft reddish-brown turns light pink when wet. It has fair eyelashes and toenails.
White elephants are only ostensibly white. Of those currently kept by then Burmese rulers — General Than Shwe — one is grey and the other three are pinkish, but all are officially white. Albinos are much rarer among African elephants than in Asia.
The elephants are currently kept in a huge enclosure opposite Uppatasnti Pagoda also called the “Peace Pagoda” with Buddha’s tooth relic is a prominent landmark in new capital of Myanmar. They are chained to the ground and keep in munching sugar cane, bamboo leafs or something else all the time. In the evening they are taken to nearby open jungle and allowed to roam freely for some time. There are similar white elephants in a park at old capital Yangon. One was even caught in wild some months ago in Myanmar.
People who come to see the Pagoda also get an opportunity to see the rare jumbos. There is even a small market surrounding the elephant enclosure and the pagoda. There are souvenirs available depicting white elephants as well as the pagoda.
Though white elephants are seen in Myanmar and South East Asian countries, there is mention of this animal in Hindu religion.
Lord Indra was said to have one such animal named Airabat who, according to mythology, could even fly.
Lord Budha’s mother was said to have dreamt of a white elephant before he was born considered to be an auspicious sign. Buddha himself was said to have had an incarnation in the form of a white elephant in the wild.
The king of Thailand used to keep a number of white elephants some of which are still alive. Former US Vice President Spiro Agnew once presented a white elephant to King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia. There have been white elephants in the army of the Sasanian king Khusrau II. According to South East Asian history, a white elephant killed the commander of the Arab Muslims in one of the fierce battles.
According to belief, if a monarch possessed one or more ‘white’ elephants, it was a glorious and happy sign. They were not worshipped for themselves and were regarded as an appendage to the King’s majesty. They are also considered sacred and are a symbol of royal power. In this part of the world the status of kings has been evaluated by the number of white elephants in their possession.
In the past, lower grade white elephants were given as gifts to the king’s friends and allies. The animals needed a lot of care and, being sacred, could not be put to work, so were a great financial burden on the recipient — only the monarch and the very rich could afford them.
According to one story, white elephants were sometimes given as a present to some enemy (often a lesser noble with whom the king was displeased). The unfortunate recipient, unable to make any use of it, and obliged to take care of it, would suffer bankruptcy and ruin ultimately. But despite their contradictions the white elephants drew huge crowds, especially among the children.