抄録
In India, animals are deeply woven into cultural and religious traditions. Festivals in Tamil Nadu and Kerala prominently feature different animals like the Thrissur Pooram in Kerala, where caparisoned elephants are central to processions and rituals. The paper explores the violation of animal rights in the name of religion and compromising ideas of animal welfare at Thrissur Pooram, drawing primarily on the documentary Gods in Shackles by Sangita Iyer, which provides testimonial evidence of elephant mistreatment and suffering at the festival with cross references to the ideas of cultural anthropomorphism as put forth by John Berger in Why Look At Animals (1983) and zoopolis as articulated by Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka’s in their work, Zoopolis: A Political Theory of Animal Rights. The elephants, often revered as sacred, are integral to the vibrant pageantry that defines regional celebrations. Thrissur Pooram is a cultural festival held in Kerala, India, renowned for its spectacle of elephants and massive firework displays. However, the festival has become a subject of concern for animal rights activists due to the treatment of elephants during the event. Through the documentary, the study explores the attribution of human traits, emotions, and intentions to non-human entities within a cultural context which elevates elephants as sacred beings and obscures the realities of their exploitation. The paper argues for the urgent need to reimagine the conduct of cultural festivals like through a zoopolis-inspired lens, by exploring the intensity of animal torture and the inhumanity of their treatment.
https://ror.org/050113w36 
