"Gods in Shackles",  United Nations nominated feature-length documentary film revealing the dark side of the southern Indian state,  Kerala’s glamorous cultural festivals.    Hundreds of captive elephants that are flamboyantly decorated and marched across many houses of worship.  However, behind all the pageantry, these elephants are made to endure hell, the sufferings of India’s heritage animal that are being exploited for profit under the guise of culture and religion.  Sangita Iyer, director  has revealed this in her  documentary “Gods in Shackles”.

         Sangita Iyer , is a Nature & Wildlife film maker and award winning Journalist.

     Kerala has as many as 600 captive elephants, the vast majority being males. According to Iyer, these animals are chained, tormented and starved on a daily basis. While 175 elephants were reported dead between 2012 and 2015, this year alone, at least 16 have already lost their lives.”

The director said, the paradoxes are stark, they worship and 

torture elephants – the embodiment of Lord Ganesh – in venues of worship, and this sadly has been normalized by people and has become a social norm.

         In temple festivals, Elephants sufferings are very evident but the public are so enthralled by the festivities that they are totally unaware of the agony that these elephants are going through.
 
         Change is inevitable, but it will not happen overnight. How long can we allow the exploitation of these majestic beings? 

         The reality is that there are less than 40,000 Asian elephants left in the world.
The rate at which they are being torn from their families and deprived of their basic right to mate, how will their species survive if they don’t produce kids?

         There is so much ignorance surrounding the practice of using elephants, and at the core is commerce – not religion or culture. The exploitation of animals in the name of God is simply sad. 

          There are NO scriptures – Hindu, Christian or Islamic – that even suggest using elephants in festivals. Gods in Shackles exposes the economics and commercialization of these supremely intelligent animals and many people are now awakening to the truth.  By educating people using such films, we are harnessing the power of sights and sounds that resonate well and have a profound influence on people’s perceptions and understanding.

          Indians seem to have forgotten their own spiritual roots. Our rich Hindu scriptures teach us compassion, love, empathy and forgiveness – whereas what you see at Thrissur Pooram is the antithesis of Hinduism. 

        We could see raw bleeding wounds on the elephants’ ankles and on top of those excruciatingly painful wounds, the elephants were tethered with heavy shackles. Their suffering was very evident but the public were so enthralled by the festivities that they were totally unaware of the agony that these elephants were going through.

         By exposing the abhorrent torture suffered by India’s heritage animal, Gods in Shackles offers hope to the thousands of endangered captive and wild elephants in India through heightened awareness that will inspire key stake holders and policy makers to enhance the living conditions of these highly social animals.

         There are NO scriptures – Hindu, Christian or Islamic – that even suggest using elephants in festivals. Gods in Shackles exposes the economics and commercialization of these supremely intelligent animals and many people are now awakening to the truth.  By educating people using such films, we are harnessing the power of sights and sounds that resonate well and have a profound influence on people’s perceptions and understanding.