A Tiger to Love - A Trip to Tiger Temple, Thailand

Elaine Rati Kochar: "With a little donation in exchange for the belt with the fake tiger tooth I could lay the head of Mansa the tiger on my lap while he snoozed and surrender to my urge of petting him on his head and scratching behind his ears and under his chin." Photo Credit: Elaine Rati Kochar

Travel involves surprises. Being a little more than just a tourist. Experiencing something that stays in your heart and mind for as long as you live, shut away in a box of souvenirs in your memory, to be taken out and savoured while leafing through photos or reminiscing with friends. Catching sight of a blue cord with a plastic tiger tooth tied to the end, “Is it ivory?” someone asks. At a tiger conservation park? No way!!!

A few hours drive out of Bangkok, past the town of Kanchanaburi, is the Tiger Temple. A place where tigers and humans can come close to each other, touching distance infact, and not at the end of a gun or the teeth of a trap. It’s a place to touch a tiger with love and have it revel in your touch. A place full of wonder and delight. A little corner of Eden.

Elaine Rati Kochar: "The first tiger I petted was a female called Skyward! And no wonder! She lay with her belly skyward and her paws as large as dinner plates curled over her chest like a domestic tabby! I put both my hands over her paws and scratched her tummy, which she certainly enjoyed, judging from the purr." Photo Credit: Elaine Rati Kochar

We drove out of Bangkok to visit the tigers. I had seen the documentary on the Discovery channel of the monastery where monks had saved tigers from poachers and brought them to this patch of forest, to rear them in safety. At the time I didn’t know one could visit the place but it seemed so miraculous to be able to walk with the big cats and play with them as the monks were doing. They seemed so accepting of their human guardians, in spite of the abuse they had been subjected to by this same kind. It had something mystic to do with the monks and their ability to calm the beasts and build a trusting bond with each of them. The wish to be able to see the place and its inmates in real life made me surf the net and find people who knew a little more about it. To my surprise and delight people visited the park and even volunteered to work there!

The day we landed in Bangkok we hired a taxi and drove out of the city. After the mandatory floating market we passed through green fields of sugarcane and corn and coconut and betel palms. It reminded me of Assam and Kerala. We passed little towns with shacks along the highway, pretty wooden houses on stilts with gracious verandahs and pagoda roofs, huge golden temples, people cycling along with produce balanced at the back. There were modern windmills among old waterwheels. A large stretch of saltpans was a surprise and there were stalls along the roadside selling salt in packages of all sizes. Who bought so much salt? One wonders.

Elaine Rati Kochar With Mansa tiger on her lap. Photo Credit: Elaine Rati Kochar

We took a turn off the wonderfully smooth four laned highway on a dirt track for a few kilometers, under sharp green hills rising out of a flat plain. Parking inside the huge gates we walked along a track past deer at a saltlick. The park is a sanctuary for different wildlife and exotic birds. Then down into a dry ravine with towering sides eroded by water and wind. It was like being on the sets of a Bond movie and entering the lair of the villainous mastermind set to destroy the world! Suddenly the bottleneck opened up into a small arena and there were the tigers!

About seven or eight of them were lolling around tied a little away from each other with thick chains and a water bowl next to each one. There was a small pond at the far end fed by a waterfall. Two tigers were gamboling about in it, splashing and playing noisily. They turned out to be cubs, but being eleven months old they were far from small!

There were volunteers who spoke English and Thai staff who were with each of the tigers. We were allowed to go in one at a time and with a worker. Taking me firmly by the hand the volunteer told me not to talk and to be quiet and gentle in my movements. Anything shiny that might make the tiger curious, like dark glasses or belts and bags were taken off. He took me to the tiger that I wanted to touch and told me sit down next to it.

A Tiger and a park addentant at the Tiger Temple, Thailand. Photo Credit: Elaine Rati Kochar

What an experience! There is always that instinct of self-preservation in one’s subconscious that makes you wary of these gigantic beasts. They are essentially wild and beasts of prey!!!! But once you stroke it and it closes its eyes and rolls over in ecstasy you are lost!! I wanted to stay there forever and make a lifelong friend of that tiger! The first tiger I petted was a female called Skyward! And no wonder! She lay with her belly skyward and her paws as large as dinner plates curled over her chest like a domestic tabby! I put both my hands over her paws and scratched her tummy, which she certainly enjoyed, judging from the purr. Then on to two others who lay back-to-back and one of them grumbled away, only to jump up later and charge off to another friend on a rock nearby giving everyone around a fright! That put paid to my fears that the tigers may be drugged to keep them docile! Looking at the chap happily gnawing at a gigantic dog chew, one wondered what would happen if he meant business and decided to sort it out with the humans surrounding him!

Tigers and addentants at the Tiger Temple, Thailand. Photo Credit: Elaine Rati Kochar

With a little donation in exchange for the belt with the fake tiger tooth I could lay the head of Mansa the tiger on my lap while he snoozed and surrender to my urge of petting him on his head and scratching behind his ears and under his chin. He seemed to enjoy it as I still had my hands left when the time came to say goodbye! The donation goes towards getting land to let the tigers roam free. At the moment they live in cages, and are brought down to the visitors’ enclosure for three hours a day in the afternoon. This is when people are allowed to interact with them, take photographs and watch them. All this done under the watchful eye of the monk. He calms any tigers that seem unsettled. A little girl had the photograph of a lifetime when he personally made Mansa sit up and held his head while she sat on the tigers back and posed!!! Reminded me of a little limerick I know about a lady from Niger!! However the tigers are only fed boiled chicken and given huge dog chews for snacks.

Regardless of how calm they seem, there are only a couple of tigers one can touch and pet as the rest are not so docile and used to humans. The volunteers who come from all over the world take photographs of the visitors, clean out the cages in the morning and take the tigers for walks on their chains. In exchange they are given accommodation on the premises and food. They come to work for as long as they like, ranging form a week to months. The regular staff is local and the monks who live there. There are other animals on the park, bears, wild boars and various birds. But the stars of the show are the tigers and beside them the others pale in comparison. This visit was certainly one of the highlights of living on this beautiful planet!

When you talk of Thailand, the first few thoughts that across your mind are, sun and surf, exotic massages, shopping bonanza's and many more. This article throws light on new dimension of countries ever expanding, challenging ideas to attract the demanding tourist. What better way would it be then this - which is demonstrated by an tourist itself.

Smiling at the irony- This majestic animal known as "KING OF THE JUNGLE" who's one roar is enough to cause ruffles- the same animal is seen been petted and coyly purring like a tamed pussy cat on Elaine's lap. This sight is a little hard to digest.

Never the less, I feel is convinced that furiousness of the animal pertains to its survival instincts and self preservation.

I would appreciate you sending me more articles like this one. It just helps in widening the horizon.