Hathi Gaon or Elephant Village

Hathi Gaon or Elephant Village, at village of Kunda, Jaipur. 

Just a few kilometres from the Amber Fort is designed to offer stabling for over 100 elephants, as well as providing accommodation and employment for the owners, mahouts and their families. Set on thirty hectares of land, the village consists of stable blocks with attached housing, as well as a man-made lake where the elephants can swim, play – and of course get thoroughly washed down after a day in the heat and dust. The idea behind the project is that welfare groups as well as vets and government agencies will be able to better serve the Elephant community if they're all in one place. Education for their owners is high on the list of priorities.

One by one they arrived at the pond that is equipped with enormous concrete steps, and slowly made their way into the water. Once in, they actually become rather playful. It was a very happy environment and a far cry from the conditions that many other elephants have to endure. Elephants playing, being washed and scrubbed for hours, the keepers laughing and joking and making the elephants play even more. These mahouts proudly pointed out their respective charges, who they obviously care a great deal for and explained about their lives and homes. 

The village would be developed as a tourist spot, and animal lovers and researchers would be able to come here to study the pachyderm.