# The curious case of two
                                                    elephants

**Source**: https://ge.iitm.ac.in/rendezvous/the-curious-case-of-two-elephants/
**Parent**: https://ge.iitm.ac.in/rendezvous/page/3/

They
have
been
around
for over
61
years.
Yet,
there is
very
little
that is
known
about
the two
elephant
statues
of the
Gajendra
Circle,
a
landmark
of
IIT-Madras
that
represents
what the
institution
stands
for

**Srivatsan
S**

A 15kmph
slow
drive —
or 7kmph
speed
walk —
under a
canopy
of
overhanging
trees of
IIT-M
can
never be
not
energising.
After
the long
roads
that
might
look
longer
until
about
two
kilometers
from the
main
gate
from
Adyar,
stand
two
elephants
—
separated
by a
fountain
that
looks
like an
inverted
umbrella
from a
bird’s-eye
view —
facing
opposite
directions,
refusing
to
confront
or look
into
each
other’s
eyes
like a
passive-aggressive
husband
and wife
after
fighting
over
some
silly
domestic
chores.

These
elephants,
whose
once-dark
coloured
skin
would
glow
during
the
sunkissed
season
of
Chennai’s
kathiri,
are all
now coin
grey in
color
perhaps
due to
aging —
or
global
warming.
Imagine
standing
under
the
scorching
Sun for
61
years!
The
IITians
know it
as
Gajendra
Circle;
for
others,
it’s
just a
fascinating
piece of
art.

The
Gajendra
Circle
(GC) is
the
heart
and
epicenter
of IIT
Madras.
Quite
literally.
If GC is
the
beating
heart,
then the
arteries
and
veins
are four
connecting
roads —
Bonn and
Delhi
Avenue
that run
in
parallel
leading
to the
residential
area,
and
newer
ones
such as
Hostel
and
Alumni
Avenue
that
lead to
the
hostel
and
academic
areas
respectively.

The two
magnificent
creatures
are the
first
ones to
welcome
the
fresh
batch of
students
at the
turn of
every
year.
And this
imposing
structure,
which
has been
the
symbol
of IIT-M
and a
landmark
location
in the
campus,
is
perhaps
the last
stop
where
graduates
gather
for a
quick
selfie,
or
memorable
‘photograph’
as once
it was
known,
before
it’s
pack up
time.
The
short
interval
that
remains
in-between
is the
life of
an
IITian.

Mind
you. For
some, GC
might
only
trigger
memories
of date
nights
and
brewing
romances
they
might
have
had. We
are
looking
at you,
alumni.
Tsk.
Tsk.

**A
snatch
of
history**

At one
point,
the
popularity
of GC
outside
the
campus
was such
that it
even
featured
in ‘know
your
city’
guides
for
tourists
as among
the two
places
to check
out in
Adyar;
the
other
one
being
the
Banyan
Tree in
Theosophical
Society.
Despite
all
this,
very
little
information
is
available
in the
public
domain,
and very
little
has been
written
about
the
origin
of
Gajendra
Circle,
which is
synonymous
with
everything
IIT-M
stands
for.

Here’s
how the
story
goes:
Prof B
Sengupto,
the
first
Director
of
IIT-M,
was the
man
behind
the
conception
of the
campus
and the
infrastructure
the
institution
needed:
hostels,
laboratories,
quarters
and
buildings;
Sengupto
saw to
it that
the
majority
of work
was
completed
by the
time his
tenure
ended.
The
Gajendra
Circle,
however,
did not
originate
from
him; it
was the
brainchild
of R
Natarajan,
the
first
Registrar
of
IIT-M.

It was
Natarajan,
in fact,
who
coined
the name
Gajendra
Circle.
He was
always
fond of
Bengaluru,
which
had so
many
‘circles’
such as
Narasimharaja
Circle
and
something
as
recent
as Anil
Kumble
Circle.
“I told
Prof
Sengupto
and our
engineer
that we
should
install
two big
elephants
and call
it
Gajendra
Circle.
And it
caught
fire
immediately
among
students,”
said R
Natarajan,
in a
conversation
with
Prof
Ajit
Kolar.

Not just
GC, but
all the
avenues
— Bonn,
Madras
and
Delhi —
were
coined
by him.
“Charles
Dickens
wrote A
Tale of
Two
Cities.
Likewise,
our
campus
is a
handiwork
of three
cities:
Bonn,
Madras
and
Delhi,”
said
Natarajan,
who was
with
IIT-M
for
six-and-a-half
years
till
1965.
But the
Gajendras
we see
today
have not
always
looked
the
same.

Let’s
first
address
the
elephant
in the
room:
the
‘circle’
in
Gajendra
is a
lie; the
structure
isn’t
‘circular’
but
oval.
The
first
version
of GC,
which
was
primarily
a lamp
post
with
four
lamps,
came
into
existence
in 1962.
It had a
figurine
of the
elephant
head
with its
trunk
pointing
upwards
as if to
signal
blessing
or
greeting,
and was
attached
on each
lamp
post.
This
version
continued
to exist
till the
late
‘60s.

The
second
version
of GC,
installed
roughly
around
1967,
looked
even
grander
with an
ambitious
design:
instead
of four
elephant
heads,
it was
brought
down to
two
life-sized
elephants
separated
by a
fountain
and
accompanied
by two
students
on
either
side.
One of
the
students
carries
a hammer
in his
hand,
while
the
other
holds
the
degree
in
hand.

The idea
was to
signify
the
journey
of a
student
at
IIT-M.
But it
didn’t
go down
well
with
students
and the
jokes
kept
coming.
For
instance,
R
Shankar,
wrote in
the
students-run
newspaper
Campustimes,
“Leaning
on these
two
elephants
are two
men,
who,
like the
elephants,
have
taken a
natural
and
inevitable
dislike
to each
other
and are
using
the
elephant’s
head to
hide
from
each
other.
What do
these
statues
actually
represent?
Some say
that the
men
represent
the
student
body
while
the
elephants
represent
the
staff.”

The
third
and
final
version
of GC,
which
was
remodelled
sometime
in the
early
1970s,
is what
we see
today —
without
the
accompanying
boys. An
imposing
structure,
Gajendra
Circle
is
sometimes
decked
with
colorful
lights
and the
fountain
is
switched
on
during
special
occasions
on
campus —
the only
time
elephants
get to
have
their
cold
shower.

With
inputs
from
IIT-M
Heritage
Centre.
For more
details,
check
out:
[https://heritage.iitm](https://heritage.iitm.ac.in/).[ac.in/](http://ac.in/)

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