Dec 14, 2015

Elephant with a golden ambari (howdah) at Baroda - 1895

Elephant with a golden ambari (howdah) at Baroda - 1895

Photograph of an elephant with a golden ambari at Baroda, Gujarat from the Curzon Collection, taken by an unknown photographer during the 1890s. The elephant was one of about 55 state elephants owned by the Gaekwar Sayaji Rao III (ruled 1875-1939), 12th Maharaja of Baroda. They were used in ceremonial processions and were granted to high officials as a mark of royal favour. In this side view, the elephant is caparisoned in cloth of gold and bears on its back the ambari, a throne or state howdah made of gold which only the largest and strongest elephants could support.