IDUKKI : Forget actors, musicians and even sports persons with sky-high fame. Padayappa, the wild tusker who roams the human habitations and tea estates of Munnar, is the superstar in this neck of the woods. He even has a fan following among tourists.
Among Padayappa’s local diehard fans are a photographer, who has been capturing the elephant in all its majesty for 10 years, and young entrepreneurs, who have named their shop after the pachyderm.Pratheep, Ramesh, Vijayakumar, and Kumaravel were unanimous in christening their shop.
“Despite being a wild elephant, Padayappa’s coexistence with the people in Munnar is surprising. He has never come into conflict with residents unless provoked or harmed,” Pratheep told TNIE.
Padayappa supermarket was opened in Munnar town on January 25. “The tusker enters residential areas in search of food and returns to the forest peacefully when he has had his fill. Padayappa has never instigated any trouble. It is jeep and taxi drivers who provoke the tusker that gets him riled up,” says Pratheep.
“Moreover, the name Padayappa is derived from Aarupadayappa, which refers to Murugan and his six abodes. We hope the elephant’s popularity and divine association will rub off on us,” he added.
Hadlee Renjith, who has been tracking Padayappa since 2014, describes him as a majestic animal with disproportionate tusks -- the left being a little more arched than its pair. The wildlife photographer’s video of a herd of pachyderms surrounding his car parked near the tea plantation in Munnar had gone viral. “Padayappa looks different from different angles. This explains why most people mistake him for other wild elephants. With keen observation, he is easily identifiable,” says Renjith.
Renjith, who never misses a chance to capture Padayappa from close quarters, says except for a few fake charges, he has never been attacked by the tusker. “Padayappa is the biggest tusker in Munnar and also the most human-friendly one. Unless provoked, he won’t harm people,” says Renjith, who is also passionate about capturing pictures of other wild animals.