Elephant Festival

The Elephant Festival is considered one of the most popular and celebrated events in the city of Jaipur. Since the festival was introduced, the ceremony has managed to attract a variety of outsiders to the festive event. Elephants symbolize royalty according to the traditions of Rajasthan. The elephant is also believed to be associated with Buddhism and Jainism. In fact, the elephant itself has a historical significance in Indian traditions. According to Indian mythology, gods and the demons stirred the ocean, in the hopes that they would become eternal. Suddenly, nine jewels also known as the navratnas surfaced from the ocean. Of the nine jewels that reappeared, one of them was an elephant. Since then, the elephant has been regarded as a precious animal.^{[citation needed]}

The state of Rajasthan was a popular destination for many royal figures as the kings and princes of those times would take elephant rides to the Amber Palace of Rajasthan. During the monarchy, India’s royalty would hold events where the strongest elephants would fight each other to entertain the royal guests. Nowadays, the festival is organized every year by the Rajasthan tourism group in the Chaugan Stadium. The venue was relocated to the Jaipur Polo Group grounds due to the festival’s increasing popularity. The elephants are sacred and are believed to have good luck.^{[citation needed]}

For the first time in many years, the Elephant Festival was cancelled for two consecutive years, 2012 and 2014, due to protest from the Animal Welfare Board. The animal activists were concerned about the chemical-laced colour being poured on the elephants and feared that the elephants would be harmed in the process. The Rajasthan tourism group, which hosts the festival every year failed to sign up the elephants with the Animal Welfare Board and provide appropriate documents. As a result of this, the organizers decided to rename the event the Holi Festival. The Tourism Department’s decision to cancel came in the wake of protests by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]}