A dignified farewell to Thailand's national symbol

Elephants are Thailand's national symbol. When they die, they deserve a final resting place befitting an animal of weight. In Ban Ta Klang (Surin) they get such a resting place. A special cemetery has been created next to Wat Pa Arjiang. There are now a hundred elephants resting in the shade of trees.

The tombstone above each grave is shaped like the headgear of a warrior from the past. It also serves to provide shade for the animal, explains Abbot Phra Khru Samu. “The elephants worked for us. When they die, they should rest comfortably in the shade.'

Phra Khru Samu Harn Panyatharo, as his full name and title is, took the initiative for the cemetery in 1995. Until then, elephants were buried in rice paddies or plantations, at hospitals where they had been treated and at sanctuaries where they had been kept. When villagers got wind of his initiative, they started digging up elephant remains. They brought them to the temple merit-making rituals and reburied them there.

Ten years later there were forty graves in the forest. With financial support from the province and help from villagers, the cemetery was renovated. The cemetery now has a hundred graves; the remains of numerous elephants still await a dignified farewell.

But dead elephants cannot be immediately taken to the cemetery. They must first be buried elsewhere for five to seven years until their bodies have completely decomposed and only the skeleton remains. That way it is much easier to exhume the skeletons and bring them to Ban Ta Klang for reburial.

Ban Ta Klang is traditionally an elephant village. The ethnic Kui people have a long tradition of capturing and training elephants. The village has 100 elephants, half of the total number in Surin province. Nowadays the importance of the Kui traditions and culture is decreasing, but a large number of villagers still travel with tame elephants. Mahouts from Surin may earn their living elsewhere in the country with their animals, they always return to pay tribute to their ancestors. And their animal finds a final resting place there.

Source: Bangkok Post