Nepal’s tourism hub Chitwan hosts Elephant Festival

Around 100 elephants took part in the 15th edition of Elephant Festival in Nepal’s Chitwan and was inaugurated by Nepali President Bidya Devi Bhandari. He mentioned the religious and cultural significance of elephants in Nepali society.

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Elephant beauty contest in Nepal

With the participation of various elaborately decorated elephants, an eye-catching elephant beauty contest is held during the 13th Elephant Festival in Sauraha, a tourism hub in southwest Nepal's Chitwan district.

STANDUP (ENGLISH)1 : SHRISTI KAFLE, CNC correspondent
"Today is a big day for Pushpakali as she is among the top three finalists in the elephant beauty contest. And as you can see her mahout Anil is busy doing paintings and decorations to give her a makeover to make Pushpakali win the beauty pageant."

On the cold winter morning, 15-year-old elephant Pushpakali was taken to the nearby river for bath.

Mahout Anil Darai spent a long time cleaning the elephant, and started making artistic images all over her body.

Anil used various colors to paint different symbols, signs and flowers on the elephant.

SOUNDBITE (NEPALI)2: ANIL DARAI, Mahout
"I woke up at 4 am and fed her with her favorite food. Today is the final of beauty contest so I am preparing her in a best way possible. I am painting flowers. I am sure she will secure first in the competition."

Among 50 elephants participating in the festival, five young female elephants competed in the beauty contest this year.

They walked in ramp along with their mahouts and presented their beauty and different skills to impress the judging panel.

At the end, three finalists showcased their beauty and intelligence and presented skills as per instructions from the judges.

Their actions were closely observed and scored in terms of cleanliness, physical hygiene, health status and discipline.

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Elephant Festival kicks off in Sauraha of Chitwan

RATNANAGAR (Chitwan), Dec 26: An elephant festival has kicked off in Sauraha of Chitwan on Monday with a view to boosting up local tourism.   The festival, aimed at prolonging stay of tourists in the town, is organized coinciding with Christmas and the English New Year, according to Regional Hotel Association, Chitwan, the event organizer.   The festival began with the eye-catching procession of bedecked elephants that originated from the eastern sector of the Chitwan National Park and passed through Sauraha. A Tharu cultural rally was also the part of the inaugural session of the festival.

 The nine various programs including elephant 'fast walk' tournament, elephant Polo, a football match among elephant calves, cart race, elephant painting, picnic for elephants, a cultural program and a boat riding competition are the parts of the festival, Association Secretary Rammani Khanal said.   The festival is the continuity of the Elephant Race Tournament that used to be held in Sauraha 12 years ago

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Nepal to host Asian rural tourism festival

The Asian Rural Tourism Festival 2017 will be held from March 3-6 at Bahundangi in Nepal. The festival has been an annual event since 2012 and is aimed at raising awareness of the people living along the Mechi River in eastern Nepal and north Bengal about wild elephants.

Speaking today at a press meet at the Siliguri Journalists' Club, Arjun Karki, president of the festival organising committee, said various awareness programmes will be launched besides promoting local cultures and tradition. There will be stalls on conservation of orange orchards, bee keeping and tea branding, which will help visitors pick up value added practices and know about living museums and local food products. The event will also witness cultural performances by the Rai, Tamang, Gurung, Dhimaal, Limboo and Newar communities.

Raj Basu, convener of the Association for Conservation of Tourism, the supporting organisation, said stakeholders from Bhutan and Bangladesh will also participate, to give complete focus on rural tourism connectivity and networking. Tour operators and travel agents from Nepal such as NATA, TAAN, PATA are expected to take part in the festival, he said.
Rabi Nepal, vice president of the festival organising committee, said Indian cultural troupes comprising dancers, singers and models for ethnic fashion display will also be participating. (EOIC)

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Chitwan Elephant Festival to be held in Sauraha from Dec 26

CHITWAN: Chitwan Elephant Festival is going to be held at Sauraha in Chitwan district from December 26 to 30.

The International Elephant Polo will remain the highlight of the Festival which is being held after a gap of 7 years, according to International Elephant Polo Competition Coordinator Shankar Sainju.

The Regional Hotel Association at Sauraha will continue the Polo competition where eight elephants dividing in two groups will play against each other.

Coordinator Sainju shared that the prospective polo player elephants are being trained for the match that will last through total twenty minutes.

During the five-day event, various other elephant-related activities will be organised with a view of retaining the tourists visiting Chitwan National Park, informed Coordinator Sainju.

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Tharu culture will be showcase

The fourth edition of the Extensive Elephant Festival is taking place at Thakurdwar in Bardiya from December 13 to 14. The two – day festival is being jointly organized by Bardiya National Park (BNP) and Poaching and Hunting Control Youth Mobilization Campaign.


The festival being held at Hattisaar of Thakurdwar is expected to draw in domestic as well as foreign tourists. The elephants will also be worshiped with Vedic ritualistic offerings, Campaign’s Chairman, Hemanta Acharya shared.


The festival will also showcase local Tharu culture, procession, local dances and offer Tharu delicacies for the visitors Meanwhile, the tiger population in BNP has increased to 85 as shown by this year’s census. This is expected to further boost the arrival of tourists and visitors to the Elephant Festival and the BNP.

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Elephants Play Soccer In Nepal's Elephant Fesitval

The World Cup is out of the question for this soccer match, but these elephants still know how to score.

Players enthralled crowds in Nepal's ninth international Elephant Festival soccer final -- and even though the animals have riders, the skilled footwork is all theirs says one of the teams' sponsors.

Sanjaya Adhikaeri from Kist Bank, sponsor of the winning elephant team, told Reuters "This is not being played by men, it is being played by wild animals and it is really enjoyable. People will get the message all over the world that an animal that is very difficult to train is playing soccer for the entertainment of the people. That's why we participate every year and it is very successful for us."

The festival tries to raise awareness for conservation in the area and the three-day event included an elephant race and an elephant beauty contest. But the real attraction for sponsor Kist Bank was that its team gave the opposition a trumpeting with a 6-0 victory in the final.

Nepal celebrates elephant beauty

It's a beauty pageant on a large scale.

Nepal's elephant beauty pageant, held last Friday, saw three elephants from the country's Chitwan district enter the final round of the competition.

This year Chitwan Kali was awarded the top prize for her decoration, obedience and honesty.

Shri Ram of the Elephant Management Committee told Reuters, '(Chitwan Kali) was very beautiful and... was able to obey the command of mahout (her handler).'

The runner-up prize was awarded to elephant Prakriti Kali.

The final decision was determined by five expert judges looking for an elephant with physical beauty and, of course, great personality.

This is the third year in which the elephant beauty contest has been included in the annual Chitwan Elephant festival in Nepal.