DID YOU KNOW How Meghalaya’s famous tourist destination ‘Elephant Falls’ derive its name?

TNT Desk | December 27, 2018

Just 12 km from Meghalaya's capital town Shillong and a few minutes drive from Shillong's highest peak, a small road deviates a little further to the edge of the mountain and one reaches the famous tourist spot known as the Elephant Falls.

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Many Shillongites may have been to the popular tourist destination but have you ever wondered how the destination received its name, especially when theere are/were no elephants around?

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Well if you're wondering why the name Elepnat Falls, then here you go–

Originally the Khasi people named the falls "Ka Kshaid Lai Pateng Khohsiew" which in English translates to Three Steps Water Falls because the water falls into three steps.

However when the Britishers came and found the water falls, they renamed it as the "Elephant Falls" because on the left side of the falls there was a rock resembling an elephant but the rock was destroyed by the earthquake in the year 1897.

The first fall is broad and hidden between trees. The second fall is tamed and almost negligible in winter, when the water level recedes. The last and the third waterfall is the tallest. Elephant Falls is characterized by clear water flowing over dark jutting rocks with no particular forms.