Every one of us is familiar with the Rs1000/- note for its size,
colour and so on, but who knows the true story of the elephant
and the man with the cap near it, printed on the Rs1000/- note
that is now in circulation in Sri Lanka?
Can anyone imagine that the elephant and the man wearing a cap
near it are from the Eastern province and the man is a Muslim?
Yes, they are both from the Eastern province. The man is Umar
Lebbe Panicker from Eravur in the Batticaloa district and the tusker
in the note was caught in 1925 in the Eravur forest and reared and
trained by him.
Umar Lebbe Panicker presented this tusker to the Dalada Maligawa,
but within a short period it escaped from there and went in search of
him to Eravur. Umar Lebbe brought it back again to the Dalada
Maligawawhere it was named Raja due to its majestic appearance..
His Excellency, the late President J.R. Jayawardene in order to honour
the long services of the tusker had declared it as a national asset in
1984. Raja adored the Esala Perehera procession in Kandy and thus
gained national fame and honour.
After this, the government in power then, decided to honour Umar
Lebbe Panicker for presenting this elephant to Dalada Maligawa by
printing the picture of him beside the tusker, on the Rs1000/- note,
and the village Eravur toowas thus honoured by this action.
The tusker Raja, having brought fame and honour not only to itself
but also to Umar Lebbe Panicker, and to the Eravur village, died on
July 15, 1988 after serving the Dalada Maligawa for 50 years.
"Panicker "is a name given to people who catch elephants in the
wild, train them and sell to people involved in business, for moving
or carrying very heavy materials, and also in ceremonial work. Their
decedents are still identified as "Panicker Thaththi" or "Panicker
Kathara"in Eravur. There is a road in Eravur known as 'Panicker
Veedy', named after them.
