Elephant Kraal of Ayutthaya, or Elephant Corral of Ayutthaya is a historic place in Ayutthaya Province, Thailand. It is considered part of the

Ayutthaya Historical Park Ayutthaya Historical Park ( th, อุทยานประวัติศาสตร์พระนครศรีอยุธยาPronunciation) covers the ruins of the old city of Ayutthaya, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province, Thailand. The ...

Description

The Elephant Kraal is known in Thai as ''Phaniat Khlong Chang'' ( th, เพนียดคล้องช้าง, ). The first element ''phaniat'' (Thai: เพนียด) means 'a ground for capturing elephants', or 'elephant corrals', or 'working place for elephants and taking care of elephant corrals' in a broader sense; the second element ''khlong'' (Thai: คล้อง) means 'catching (for elephant only)'; the third element ''chang'' (Thai: ช้าง) means 'elephant', hence 'elephant kraal'. It was originally located on a space beside Chan Kasem Palace (residence for

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...

, often familiarly known as

Front Palace Krom Phra Ratchawang Bowon Sathan Mongkhon , colloquially known as the Front Palace ( th, วังหน้า, ), was the title of the ''uparaja'' of Siam, variously translated as "viceroy", "vice king" or "Lord/Prince of the Front Palace", as ...

) in

Hua Ro Hua Ro ( th, หัวรอ) is a subdistrict in the Mueang Phitsanulok District of Phitsanulok Province, Thailand. In 2019 it had a population of 24,902 and 12,690 households. This subdistrict contains a concentration of regional and provinc ...

quarter, but was shifted to its current location (Suan Phrik sub-district, about from city of Ayutthaya) during the reign of King

Maha Chakkraphat Maha Chakkraphat ( th, มหาจักรพรรดิ, ; lit.: 'The Great Emperor'; 1509 – 1569) was king of the Ayutthaya kingdom from 1548 to 1564 and 1568 to 1569. Originally called Prince Thianracha, or Prince Tien, he was put on the t ...

in middle

Ayutthaya period The Ayutthaya Kingdom (; th, อยุธยา, , IAST: or , ) was a Siamese kingdom that existed in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767, centered around the city of Ayutthaya, in Siam, or present-day Thailand. The Ayutthaya Kingdom is conside ...

. In the Ayutthaya period, activities like catching elephants were regarded as festive events for the upper classes such as monarch or members of the royal family. The mahouts would herd elephants from the forest to the kraal (corral) then king chose the nice one and ordered court official to catch it. During capture, the mahout loops a lasso made of buffalo leather called a ''pakam'' ( th, ปะกำ, ) under one of the back legs of the targeted elephant, and pulls with the help of a decoy elephant. These elephants were bred as steeds, used for ceremonies, and join the war. The kraal was built from logs lined up in the semicircle and split at the end of the line as the fence. These log fences with rounded heads resembling lotus buds are called in Thai as ''Sao Talung'' ( th, เสาตะลุง, ). Sao Talung is considered sacred. In the centre of the kraal is the shrine housing the idol of

Ganesha Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is found throughout India. Hindu d ...

, the elephant lord according to the belief in

Brahmanism The historical Vedic religion (also known as Vedicism, Vedism or ancient Hinduism and subsequently Brahmanism (also spelled as Brahminism)), constituted the religious ideas and practices among some Indo-Aryan peoples of northwest Indian Subco ...

and local animism. The last official capture of elephants in Thailand occurred in the reign of King

Rama V Chulalongkorn ( th, จุฬาลงกรณ์, 20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, titled Rama V. He was known to the Siamese of his time as ''Phra Phuttha Chao Luang'' (พร� ...

to show the whole process of elephant catching to

Czarevitch Tsesarevich (russian: Цесаревич, ) was the title of the heir apparent or presumptive in the Russian Empire. It either preceded or replaced the given name and patronymic. Usage It is often confused with "tsarevich", which is a dis ...

of Russia (later King

Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...

), when he visited Siam (Thailand in those days) in 1893. The kraal was first renovated in the reign of King Rama V for royal ceremony in 1911. Later, it was renovated in 1957. In 1962, the King

Rama IX Bhumibol Adulyadej ( th, ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช; ; ; (Sanskrit: ''bhūmi·bala atulya·teja'' - "might of the land, unparalleled brilliance"); 5 December 192713 October 2016), conferred with the title King Bhumibol the Great ...

held an elephant catching perform to the King

Frederick IX of Denmark Frederick IX ( da, Christian Frederik Franz Michael Carl Valdemar Georg; 11 March 1899 – 14 January 1972) was List of Danish monarchs, King of Denmark from 1947 to 1972. Born into the House of Glücksburg, Frederick was the elder son of Ch ...

on the occasion of his visit to Thailand. The elephant kraal is now a recognised ancient monument since 1941 by the

Fine Arts Department The Fine Arts Department ( th, กรมศิลปากร, ) is a government department of Thailand, under the Ministry of Culture. Its mission is managing the country's cultural heritage. History The department was originally established ...

. In addition to being a place for raising the royal elephants, around the kraal is also the residence of the people who inherited the lineage from the royal elephant herders in the Ayutthaya court as well.

Notes

References

External links

Elephant Kraal Pavilion
{{coord, 14.376911, N, 100.568963, E, source:wikidata, display=title Tourist attractions in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province Buildings and structures in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province Archaeological sites in Thailand Registered ancient monuments in Thailand Elephants in Thailand Buildings and structures completed in the 16th century

Description

See also

Notes

References

External links