Tamil Nadu Inaugurates India's First Mahouts Village At Theppakadu

The Oscar-winning documentary, “The Elephant Whisperers,” certainly caught our attention about the love the Mahouts and the caretakers have for their elephants and their calves at Theppakadu, Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu. 

The documentary is a story of Bomman and Bellie, elephant caretakers from the Kattunayakan tribe. The featured couple had requested houses for mahouts and caretakers in March 2023,



when CM M K Stalin welcomed them at the Secretariat after the documentary won Oscars. And this Tuesday, the dedicated “Mahout village” was finally inaugurated. Under this project, 44 tribal mahouts and their assistants, called as “Cavadies,” were given house keys to the newly built houses in their names.

This marks a step in improving the lives of those who have long committed passionately to caring for the state’s elephants.