In a detailed and comprehensive form, Gods In Chains highlights the often desperate condition of India’s captive elephants – in private ownership, temples, forest departments, zoos, and circuses.

The book reveals the generally troubled and complex relationship between the captive elephant and his companion and trainer, the mahout. This is a story of pathos and heartbreak for such a deeply social and community-minded animal.

Gods in Chains is also a handbook for anyone wanting to know more of the reality behind the veil of glamour and majesty of the captive pachyderm, especially in the context of temple rituals and festival processions. Such rituals and processions are throwbacks to a more traditional time when pomp and pageantry were the symbols of wealth and circumstance. Contemporary India’s vastly different social and economic climate demands that we remove these living symbols of a glorious past from the clutches of cruel and ignorant owners and religious institutions. These elephants, existing in a state of abuse and decay, are exploited for the primary purpose of making money for their owners. By exhibiting these magnificent creatures in periodic spectacles that create religious fervor and nostalgia for a bygone era, the uninformed public is seduced into making financial contributions that enrich only the owners’ coffers.

Highlights:

Gods in Chains opens a new chapter in the process of devising and implementing better management and welfare practices for captive elephants. The book serves as an easy guide for students, policymakers, animal welfarists, bureaucrats, and virtually any individual who would like to make a difference in the lives of these great wild creatures with whom humans have forged a deep and abiding relationship.

Gods in Chains was commissioned by the WRRC (Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre, a wildlife conservation group) and CUPA (Compassion Unlimited Plus Action, an animal welfare organization) (www.cupabangalore.org) as an attempt to offer insight and solutions into the existing living and training conditions of captive elephants. Both WRRC and CUPA are located in the city of Bangalore, Karnataka, India.

Practical recommendations detailed in the book need to be strictly implemented by all governmental and non-governmental agencies to achieve reform. The WRRC’s objective is to assist the Government of India in the formation of an elephant sanctuary, where these impressive animals, rescued from their savage circumstances as entertainers and exhibits, can be nurtured and allowed to roam freely in protected areas set aside for them.