A baby elephant sways rhythmically to music, its trunk moving in sync with the beats. Social media crowd erupts in delight: "Look, he's dancing!"
An alleged video from a temple in Tamil Nadu went “viral” recently, drawing thousands of likes and comments.
Actually, that baby elephant was stressed.
“This is not dancing, but stereotypical behavior," says Sreedhar Vijayakrishnan, a researcher on the behavioural ecology of Asian elephants.
The so-called dance is a coping mechanism, he says.
Captive elephants, deprived of space, movement and social interactions, often develop repetitive behaviour like weaving, swaying, and head-bobbing. It looks cute on camera, but in reality, it’s a sign of deep distress.
“This behaviour can lead to ankylosis, which is an abnormal fusion of the bones in the joint. It is caused by a combination of prolonged confinement, restricted movement and stereotypic behaviour,” Vijayakrishnan says.
In ancient times, the pachyderms were used for temple construction, transporting heavy logs and stones. Later, they became central to religious processions, believed to carry blessings from the deities.
The tradition changed in the 20th century.
“Kerala started importing elephants from north and northeast India in 1978,” explains Sreedhar Vijayakrishnan, who was also a scientific advisor to Oscar-winning documentary film The Elephant Whisperers.
“This import created a surplus and soon temple elephants became commercial assets rather than cultural icons,” he says.
Slowly, the demand for elephants increased. Today, owning a temple elephant is a status symbol. An elephant owner apparently earns a seven-digit amount for renting out the animal in a temple procession.
The elephant is forced to stand for hours in the heat, enduring the deafening sounds of temple celebrations. Sometimes, it is forced to dance as well.
A similar video surfaced in 2024, showing an elephant “performing Bharatanatyam” alongside two women.
That was also a sign of captivity-induced distress. Again, those rhythmic movements were coping mechanisms, not expressions of joy.
These incidents, along with rising human-elephant conflicts in Kerala, have reignited conversations on the ethics of elephant captivity. Captivity, once believed to increase their lifespan, has ironically led to a decline in their well-being.
“Very few elephants live beyond 60 now,” Vijayakrishnan says.
Animal rights organisation PETA has proposed an alternative, mechanical elephants for temple processions. Some temples in Kerala and Karnataka have already adopted them, and sitar player Anoushka Shankar has pledged to donate a life-size robotic elephant to the Kombara Sreekrishna Swami Temple.
Even though animal behaviour experts warn us, social media is in denial.
Under the viral video of the dancing baby elephant, an X user wrote: “The elephant whisperers will suggest..it is a stressed baby”.
Another remarked, “What a sight! He is really digging the music. And oh what a wonderful dancer he is!”.
Another user wrote: “Tell them that the robotic elephants wouldn't give us this joy!”
So, in temple courtyards across Kerala, real elephants continue to sway — not because of the music, but because of the invisible weight of captivity.