Found by villagers on the edge of the Shilipada cashew forest in Odisha state, they were sleeping next to a vat of fermented mahua, a liquor that for years was marked as forbidden.

Two elephants in a herd that sleeps for hours in a forest in the Indian state of Odiha / Credit: India Today NE

A strange incident in India makes us smile, where a herd of elephants sleep for hours in the cashew forest of Shilipada, Odisha state, after getting drunk on mahua, a local liquor marked for years as forbidden.

Found lying on the ground by villagers at the edge of the forest, the elephant sleeps near a pot where mahua flowers are kept in water to ferment. ” We went to the forest around 6am to prepare the mahua, and found that all the pots were broken and the fermented water was gone. We also found that the elephants were sleeping. They drink fermented water and get drunkNaria Sethi, a villager, explained to local media.

In total, villagers said they saw 24 elephants – 9 males, 6 females and 9 calves – sleeping soundly. ” This liquor is unprocessed – added Sethi – . We tried to wake up the animals but couldn’t. The Forestry Department was later notified”.

Once in place, Forestry Department personnel had no trouble waking the herd, even with the sound of drums. As soon as they stand up, the elephants go deeper into the forest, said Ghasiram Patra, a ranger. The manager, however, said he wasn’t sure the elephants were drunk on the mahua. ” There is no evidence to suggest elephants drank mahua, maybe they just rested there – determined by the officer – . Although a herd of sleeping elephants is a rare sight, I also encountered such a situation in the Champua mountains a few years ago.”.

Instead, the villagers insisted that the elephants sleep peacefully near the mahua’s fermentation tanks. Mahua tree (Madhuca longifolia) thrives in the forested plains of western, central and eastern India, where tribes – such as the Santhals, Gonds, Mundas and Oraons – who have inhabited the area for 3,000 years, regard it as the “Tree of Life”.

Traditionally, these tribes have used the flowers, fruit, branches and leaves of the mahua for food, fodder, fuel, medicine and even as currency for the grain trade, but its most famous use is probably in the form of its namesake sweets. . liquor, which is made from fermented tree flowers and then carefully distilled in pots.

Since the second half of the 19th century, clear and colorless liqueurs were subject to strict prohibitions and restrictions, as they were considered dangerous liqueurs that threatened public health. Only in recent years have local authorities changed their attitude towards mahua, recognizing the importance of adat traditions and ending prohibitions.