Valli, the Community's Temple Elephant

 

Discovered in 1980 sheltering with a herd of wild buffalo at the age of 2 months by villagers in North East Sri Lanka, Valli was then taken to the world-famous Elephant Orphanage at Pinnawella.

In October 1981 she was donated to Guru Sri Subramanium by the Government of Sri Lanka to live at the Skanda Vale Temple as the only Temple elephant in the West.

As our Temple elephant Valli is revered as the living embodiment of Lord Ganesh, the most accessible deity in the Hindu pantheon; and is available to give darshan and blessings to visiting pilgrims, weather permitting.

She arrived here on 11th November 1981 and has become a firm favourite with the Community members and pilgrims alike with her happy, mischievous nature captivating all who meet her.

Valli was flown to Britain from Sri Lanka in a 4 ½ foot high crate in a Jumbo jet. When she arrived she was still having 5 milk feeds a day which carried on for a year and a half, by which time she was drinking 50 litres a day hand-fed with a bottle. She is now over 8 feet tall and weighs about 3 ½ tonnes. For 9 months in the year her barn is heated with two wood burning stoves which keep it at a minimum temperature of around 15°C and also heats her drinking water, around 200 litres every day. Twice a week she has a warm bath, followed by a Jumbo-size mud pack during the warmer half of the year. Valli enjoys regular walks grazing and browsing in the extensive paddocks around the Maha Shakti Temple precincts. During these times the Temple precincts are closed to visiting pilgrims.

She eats up to 3 bales of hay per day but is fed grass during the summer months. Throughout the year oak and willow trees are coppiced from the local woods for her by her keepers.

Her favourite treats are fresh fruit and carrots, bananas being a favourite.

Apart from her extended human family, her best friends are the many Ashram dogs whom she adores.

Read about Valli's news

Life is sacred

At the heart of spirituality is caring for the welfare and well-being of all life. On your pilgrimage to Skanda Vale you will be aware of our service to humanity – worship in our three Temples, prasadam, accommodation, attending to the well-being of our pilgrims, feeding the hungry in the third world – all provided free of charge. What you may not realise is that the monks and nuns also look after the vast spectrum of life that is at Skanda Vale – from the elephant to the ponies, from the water buffalo to the goats, cows, llamas, deer, hundreds of beautiful birds, shoals of fish in our lakes, terrapins and of course, our popular bunnies. Not to mention, that all their grazing land has to be managed and harvested, the vegetable garden maintained, alongside the care of hundreds of trees and shrubs planted by us to reflect the beauty of the Divine

Of paramount importance is that each of these animals is allowed to live the full natural span of their life. All of them have to be fed and sheltered, and when they are ill they must be cared for, administering the best medication and providing all that is required to ensure they enjoy the highest quality of life.

In commercial dairy farming cows are killed at six years old and bullocks at eighteen months of age. Our oldest cow, Gauri, is twenty one years old and Mooki, our oldest bullock, is 15 years old. Gauri’s teeth are worn down because of her age so she is fed a special mix of sugar beet, maize bran and alfalfa grass. Mooki can stand up, but because of arthritis he cannot walk more than a few steps. He is comfortable on one side only, and if he sits down in the wrong position the monks have to turn him over to his more comfortable side. This manoeuvre takes four monks and needs to be done five times a day.

Many of you that come to visit us have seen the beautiful St. Bernard dogs. You may have noticed that one of them, Chala, has only three legs. Cancer developed in one leg and to save her life this was removed. On her return from the vet she quickly adjusted to life on three legs. She can now race across fields, bounce up any slope, only stairs present an obstacle.

Why do we want our animals to live their full lives? Because all of life is sacred and they, like us, have to pay their karma; through doing this they evolve. The change is very tangible and has been witnessed by us many times over. Chala, for instance, in coping with the difficulties of her cancer, has mellowed and become such a sweet-natured dog.

Why are these animals so happy? Because they know and feel they are loved and cared for, their lives are protected and they are not living in fear.

Chala playing in the snow

 

Mooki

 

Birds Chosen by Divine Mother

 

The last Saturday of every month is always an exciting day, we pack the covered trailer with a multitude of travelling bird cages and set out for the local bird auction. The transition could not be greater. From the radiance of Skanda Vale to the oppressive grossness that permeates this auction site.

 

We are here to save life, those who surround us as we bid are here to take life. Divine Mother controls the whole situation, sometimes we have returned with a single bird, occasionally with nothing at all. Though usually the trailer is crammed with dozens of feathered friends. They are the lucky ones, a handful chosen by Mother from the many hundreds. Often they are terrified not knowing their final destination, but on arriving at Skanda Vale soon realise everyone is safe, and slowly over the days and weeks that pass begin to show their individuality.

People have little idea of how evolved and complex birds can be. One example that I experienced illustrates this very clearly. It occurred several years ago when we had just eight geese.

Jack was boss of the four white emden geese, Ferdinand the boss of the four grey toulouse. Constantly they were fighting each other, as Ferdinand had his eye on one of Jack’s wives, not content with his own. After many weeks of battle Jack finally lost, Ferdinand was seen strutting proudly around the farm with his new girlfriend. Jack went into sudden decline, he would sit all day in the darkest corner refusing to eat anything, drinking just enough to stay alive. If I moved him out into the sun and onto grass he would quickly return to his dingy corner. Gradually he got weaker and weaker.

One day while ushering him to his house for th e night he collapsed and had to be carried home. Guru advised me to force feed him. Jack as you can imagine did not enjoy this, neither did I, especially as my fingers were continuously crunched by his powerful beak. Bit by bit he regained his strength and after a few weeks came outside and was able to timidly follow the other geese, maintaining safe distance.

His strength grew until one day he decided he had it in him to do battle once again with Ferdinand and to my astonishement was victorious, sent Ferdinand running, regained his wife and began strutting proudly around the farm as if the last weeks had never existed. Ferdinand looked a bit forlorn but thankfully did not decide on a hunger strike. Five years on they are both still alive. Their differences fortunately diluted by the fifty other geese that now live here.

 

The individual karma of all the animals and birds at Skanda Vale have reached a point where they are able to be chosen by Mother to live a full life, to be cared for in sickness and to be given time and space to evolve. It is our discipline and privilege to encourage this to happen.

Walking through the “birdie field” is an immensely rewarding experience, small crested ducks fly over you, goslings come to nibble your wellies, turkeys are charging up and down the field, guinea fowls squabbling over the chicken shed roof, groups of geese grazing, chickens scratching in the grass escorted by their cockerels. All of them talking their different languages, all expressing their different personalities, all chosen to live and complete their lives.

Buffalo Family

The buffalo arrived one evening before Easter. The truth was we didn’t know what to expect – they were large and hairy; their horns pointed backwards, they croaked like frogs and unlike cows had a very soft tongue. In all there were two pregnant females and a young bull.

 

Every possible point of escape was probed. Being skilled in the use of their horns as a multipurpose tool, they dismantled all the woodwork we had assembled. Emergency construction was a daily event. Like the curious child they instinctively found ways to create havoc. Their motto, we discovered, is “Together we achieve”. For a few days they were very content in one corner of the yard: a huge digging operation was in progress, finally revealing a buried piece of farm equipment, covered for decades. From our side it took a JCB to remove this buried treasure.

We slowly discovered that any request to do something they didn’t want to do caused them to go on strike. It was then that Guru told me: “Buffalo means won’t move!”. At times like this I prayed for the strength of Valli the elephant to move them forward. The daily transfer to their grazing ground has also had its moments. I have knocked several seconds of my best 100m sprint time!

A special field was created for the girls to give birth in, but to our amazement they chose to give birth in the cow area amidst all our milkers. It was only then that I knew we had gained their trust.

The births were very quick. The babies were covered in yellow yolk and had a complete set of horns. We absolutely fell in love with them. Overnight the family increased with a boy and a girl. The baby girl was exhausted by the birth. We had to milk the mother and syringe the milk into the mouth of the baby. She slept almost continuously for seven days. Now everyone is happy and healthy and as naughty as ever.