THRISSUR: Thechikottukavu Ramachandran is the only tallest jumbo living in Kerala now. Ramachandran scores high on all parameters in height, length, beauty of the tusks and overall shape. He is Thrissur’s own Raman. His specialty is that he lifts his head up while carrying the thidambu (idol).

From Bihar to Thrissivaperoor

Raman was brought to Kerala in 1982 when he was 13. It was Venkidadri Narayana Swamy, an agent distributing elephants to Thrissur, who found Raman. Venkidadri bought the tusker named Mottiprasad and later named it Ganeshan. Thechikottukavu devaswom authorities bought Ganeshan from Venkidadri in March 1984. He was presented to the temple after re-naming him Ramachandran.

He becomes Thechikottu’s Ramachandran

He was very naughty then. He never becomes close to mahouts easily. However, fate was cruel towards him. He partially lost his one eye’s vision. His vision could not be recovered even after long treatment. The authorities said that he could not be paraded again. That time Mani of Palakkad came as Raman’s first mahout. The devaswom was later obliged to Mani for all the fame Raman achieved. Raman used to be calm when Mani is near him. Kaduva Velayudhan was that time the first mahout of Raman. The mahouts used to starve the elephants in order to teach them obedience. But Mani was different from other mahouts.

From hero to villain
Thechikottukavu Ramachandran was 10 ½ feet tall. He is the tallest jumbo among the ones living in Kerala and second in Asia. He scored high on all his parameters. He was honoured with the titles-- Gajakesari, Gajasamrat and Gajachakravarthi. He won many competitions. He received lakhs for carrying idols lifting his head high up. Ramachandran got 2.5 lakh for breaking the record of Guruvayur Kesavan.

In the meantime, he changed from a hero to a villain. Many people was killed in accidents involving Ramachandran. Even elephants like Thiruvambadi Chandrasekharan and Mangalamkunnu Karnan were not spared. Despite all this, he is still in the minds of all elephant lovers. That's exactly what we saw in this Pooram.

His body language
He is 317 centimetres of height. (new measurement says he is 321.5 cm, but this has not been registered). The height of elephants parading in big poorams varies from 285 cms to 300 cms). He is 6000 kilos and is aged 54. The length of the tusk is 75 centimetres.