Konni Elephant Training Center is the training center for the wild elephants captured from the forests to domesticate. It is approximately at a distance of 10 kilometers from Pathanamthitta town in the state of Kerala, India.

The Konni Elephant Training Center near Pathanamthitta

About Konnai

Konni has become a center of trekking and elephant safari, as Konni is the gateway to reserved forests of the Western Ghats.

About the Konni Elephant Training Center

Huge wooden cages made of Hopea Paliflora (Kambakam woods) are there to house elephants. Each cage can accommodate 3-4 elephants.

Visitors can go close to those tamed elephants and observe them closely. Mischievous Baby elephants are popular among the tourists to the Konnai Elephant Training Center.

In the past, the Konni elephant training center or Konni Elephant Reserve housed wild elephants from forests to be tamed and trained for work. Now, only baby elephants are brought here. Wounded or roaming baby elephants from the nearby woods, those that separated from the herd, are brought to this training center. They are tamed here.

How Do I Get to Konni Elephant Training Center?

District headquarters, Pathanamthitta, is just ten kilometers away from Konni. Tourists can come to Konni Bus station (situated on the main road) and hire a taxi or auto to go to the elephant training center.

Kerala State Highway 8 or Main Eastern Highway, i.e., Punalur-Pathanamthitta-Muvattupuzha Road, passes through Konni. The scenic road, Konni – Achankovil – Tenkasi Road, is a new road that connects Konnai to Tamilnadu.

Punalur is the nearest railway station, around 25 kilometers on the Kollam – Punalur railway line. This line is part of the Kollam – Shengoottai line. 

Chenganoor (CNGR) and Tiruvalla (TRVL) are the nearest major railway stations to Konni Elephant Reserve, which are 36 and 39.5 kilometers away, respectively. Those in the brackets are the railway station codes.

The nearest airport is Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, 100 kilometers distance. Cochin International Airport at Nedumbrassery is around 125 kilometers away.

Hotels at Konni and Nearby Cities

There are a few medium-ranged hotels at Konni, Pathanamthitta, and Punalur. However, star-rated hotels are there at Thiruvananthapuram, Allapuzha, Kumarakom, and Kochi. These cities are around 2 hours drive from Konni.

Home-stay facilities are available at Pathanamthitta for tourists.

Adavi Eco-Tourism

Adavi Eco-Tourism, around seven kilometers from here, offers boat ride facilities in coracles (‘Kutta Vanchi’ in the local language, Malayalam) for tourists.

The scenic route to Gavi starts from Pathanamthitta.