Location : Bandipur Forest,India

Usually, a mahout starts as a boy in the ‘family business’ when he is assigned an elephant early in its life and they would be attached to each other throughout the elephant’s life.

The most common tool used by mahouts is a goad called anlius, or ankusha – a sharp hook used to guide a tamed elephant by prodding on the back of its head.

Sanskrit language distinguishes three types: Reghawaan, who use love to control their elephants, Yuktimaan, who use ingenuity to outsmart them and Balwaan, those who control elephants with strength and cruelty.

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