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Jagdalpur (Bastar), July 29, 2024: Chhattisgarh Forest Minister Kedar Kashyap today celebrated the International Tiger Day at Narayanpur and recalled life story of the epic Tiger Boy Chendru Mandavi.
On the International Tiger Day a function was organised at the Chendru Park at Gadhbengal in Narayanpur district in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, the native place of Tiger Boy Chendru, who was famous internationally for his friendship with a Tiger called Tembu.
On this occasion the forest minister also plant a sapling and called on people to plant trees for a better future.
The Forest Minister also mentioned the Tiger Boy Chendru and why we need to have conservation and preservation of the forest and its animals.
The Minister also felicitated the family members of legend Chendru.
When Chendru was a small boy, his father and other relatives, who were hunters, had gifted him a tiger cub while returning from a hunt and instantly both became friends.
The friendship between Chendru and the tiger Tembu spread like a wild fire and people from various walks of life visited their native Gadhbengal to see the duo.
When the story reached overseas, a Swedish film maker Arne Sucksdorff reached Bastar and stayed there for a year in his village Gadhbengal and made a film “The Jungle Saga” in 1957 based on the life of Chendru and his tiger Tembu.
In this Hollywood movie Chendru played the role of hero with his tiger Tembu. This was not only a hit movie but also got Oscar.
When Arne Sucksdorff was returning back to Sweden he took back Chendru with him for a year. After a year when the Tiger Boy returned back to India he met the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru also.
In Sweden Arne Sucksdorff’s wife Astrid Bergman Sucksdorff, who herself a famous photographer, while shooting for the movie at Bastar had taken several photographs of Chendru and wrote a book titled “Chendru The Boy And The Tiger” which was also sold like a hot cake.
However, after he returned to his village, Chendru’s tiger friend Tembu passed away.
In the year 1973 Chendru passed away at the age of 78. But even today he is the real hero among the people.
