Elephants get a wash
A Wash: the temple elephant gets a wash; Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu.
Entering the western gate of the temple and walking along the long corridors got us to the elephant enclosure. The temple elephant was using the stem of a plant to scratch its legs when we heard a roar from the corridor: the baby elephant was running towards the enclosure and as soon as the few people who were there saw this, they ran and hid in whatever places they could find! As the elephant keepers swept the enclosure, a pipe was being connected to spray water. Commands in Tamil had both the mother and the kid lying on their sides and while one person sprayed water on the elephants two more brushed vigorously. Another command and both of them were folding their legs to give better access for cleaning and then another command and they exchanged places and lay down on their other sides for a complete wash; a lucky thing we got to watch at Rameshwaram.
Tamil Nadu East Coast, July, 2008