Cherpulasery: Popular tusker Mangalamkunnu Karnana is no more. He was 60. The elephant died in the wee hours Thursday due to cardiac arrest.
The tusker was known for its height and elegance. He was always an irreplaceable tusker in festivals.
The elephant passed away by 5 am. Last rites will be held at Walayar forest on Thursday.
Mangalamkunnu Karnan owned by the Mangalamkunnu family (tharavadu) have the largest number of captive elephants in Kerala, only behind Guruvayur devaswom.
Karnan is known for his ability to hold his heads up for a long time, thus able to win in many Thalappokkam (Heads-up) competitions. The tusker was 302 centimetres tall.
In 19991, Karnan was repatriated from Varanasi and brought to Kerala. First, he was owned by Manissery Haridas and the tusker was named Manissery Karnan. Parassery Chami who was Karnan’s mahout in initial days has a great role in developing the tusker’s confidence. It was in 2000 that the Mangalamkunnu family bought Karnan.
The three most famous elephants of the tharavadu are Mangalamkunnu Ganapathy (late), Mangalamkunnu Karnan and Mangalamkunnu Ayyappan.
Karnan won the title for the Thalappokkam competition at the Sreekumara Ganesha Temple for the ninth year in a row. He is also known for winning many Thalappokkam competitions across Kerala. He has acted in some movies namely Dil Se, Kathanayagan, Narasimham among others and also in TV commercials.
Karnan last participated in a festival in March 2019.
Published: 28 Jan 2021, 07:52 am IST
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