Kodanad is very famous for its Elephant training center.This rural village is along the bank of the River Periyar. The elephant capturing
and training was started in the year 1895 in Malayatoor reserved forests. They
then constructed a large kraal for training the elephants.
Kraal is actually a big wooden cage made of wood kambakam
scientifically known as Hopea Parviflora , it is so strong that it cannot be
destroyed even under tension. The training were carried out by the skilled
people so called Mahouts (‘Paappan’ in Malayalam) where the training can extend
up to three months until these elephants are well tamed for doing forestry works. The Kraal you see
now is not the original one built in 1895 but was rebuilt in 1965 in the
original location.
During 1950’s kodanad became one of the largest elephant training centers . But twenty years later when Government of India banned capturing of elephants, it became a center for training young elephants who were rescued
from several parts of the state. But now the elephant training center is closed
permanently and all the animals are moved to Abhayaranyam Zoo which is 2 kilometers away from this
center.
Abhayaranyam Zoo and tourist destination is located at the
midst of a large forest in Kaprikkadd, Kodanad. The Abhayaranyam project came into
existence from 18th February 2011. It was inaugurated by the Minister
of Forest and Housing, Shri .Binoy Vishwom.