A.Siripala (53) one of the two main artistes who sculptured the pandal, said he and his friend -an expert in cement moulding- K.T Pradeep Kumara, came up with the idea of creating the 40-foot-high pandal. The pandal itself was designed by well-known artist Gongithota Premaratne

Siripala added together with the lighting, an artificial waterfall running through the pandal creates a realistic life-like image of a forest inhabited by elephants. He said the pandal was created in a way it could be removed and re- assembled at different locations. Bandula Karunaratna who helped finance much of the cost of the pandal (which cost a million rupees), also provided the land to put up the structure. The costs of lighting up the pandal were met by Jeevan Manoj Seneratne.

Many members of the public too contributed towards the cost of putting up the pandal.The pandal can be viewed till May 6.