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The one with a hand, shaped by hand. 

Realistic Sri Lankan tuskers, sculpted and painted by hand, down to the last freckle on the trunk.

See the family

In Sanskrit, the elephant is hastin.
The one with a hand.
Its trunk is the hand.
Ours are the hands that shape it.

That is our name: Hasthika.

Kandula, a handmade Sri Lankan tusker sculpture with a curled trunk and pale freckled face and ears
Made by hand, true to life.

We grew up with elephants.

For us, the Kandy Perahera and the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage were never tourist stops. They were part of growing up. We watched gentle, people-friendly elephants in our own neighbourhood, and met wild herds on the roads around Yala and Anuradhapura.

To us, the elephant is the clearest symbol nature has given our culture: an animal with a long memory and a deep understanding of the world around it.

Yet the elephant figures we found in shops looked little like the ones we knew. So we began making our own, by hand and true to life. Hasthika is how we share the light we have always seen in elephants with the rest of the world.

An island that walks with elephants.

For more than two thousand years, Sri Lanka has carved its elephants in stone, dressed them for procession and followed them into legend.

Drawing of two kings on war elephants facing each other with spears
2,000+years

Kandula

More than two thousand years ago, King Dutugemunu rode to unite the island on a tusker named Kandula. The Mahavamsa remembers them side by side.

A row of carved elephant heads with white tusks along the wall of Ruwanwelisaya
344stone elephants

The elephant wall

Around Ruwanwelisaya in Anuradhapura, 344 stone elephants stand shoulder to shoulder, as if carrying the great stupa on their backs.

An ancient carved moonstone at the foot of stone steps in Anuradhapura
Birthon the moonstone

The moonstone

Step onto an ancient moonstone and the first creatures you cross are elephants. In its carved bands, the elephant stands for birth.

A tusker dressed in a glowing, lit costume walking in the Kandy Esala Perahera at night
37years

The Perahera

Each Esala in Kandy, a tusker carries the casket of the Sacred Tooth Relic. Maligawa Raja carried it for 37 years and was named a national treasure.

A herd of wild elephants grazing on the grasslands of Minneriya
7,451wild elephants

The wild herd

In August 2024, Sri Lanka counted at least 7,451 wild elephants. Each dry season, hundreds of them gather on the grasslands of Minneriya.

A wild Sri Lankan tusker walking through green grass in soft morning light
7 in 100bulls

The rare tusker

Only about 7 in 100 Sri Lankan bulls grow tusks. That is why every tusker turns heads, and why ours carry them.

The life of an elephant.

From a two-year wait to a life of sixty years and more, an elephant's life is long, patient and lived together.

Elephants Sri Lanka remembers

  • Kandula, 2nd century BCE. The tusker of King Dutugemunu, who carried him into his most famous duel. The Mahavamsa remembers them side by side.
  • Maligawa Raja, c. 1913 - 1988. Carried the casket of the Sacred Tooth Relic for 37 years. A national treasure, he now rests at the Temple of the Tooth.
  • Millangoda Raja, c. 1938 - 2011. Famed for tusks about 2.3 metres long, he walked in the Esala Perahera for some 40 years.
  • Nadungamuwa Raja, c. 1953 - 2022. One of the largest tame tuskers in Asia. He carried the casket from 2005 to 2021 and was named a national treasure.
  • Gemunu, Born c. 1991. Yala's best-known wild tusker, fearless around safari jeeps. A reminder never to feed wild elephants.
  • Kawanthissa, Died 2026. The Biggest Tusk of Asia 2020-2026. Lost to a gunshot wound in October 2026.

  1. 22 months

    The longest wait

    A calf grows for about 22 months before it is born, the longest pregnancy of any land animal.

  2. Day one

    First steps

    A newborn weighs around 90 kilograms and is usually on its feet within half an hour.

  3. Early years

    Raised by the family

    The herd is a family of related females and their young, led by the oldest female, the matriarch. A calf grows up among mothers, aunts and sisters.

  4. About 14

    Leaving home

    Young bulls leave the family herd at around 14 or 15 years old, to live alone or with other males. The females stay together.

  5. Every day

    A life of feeding

    An adult eats around 150 kilograms of plants a day and spends up to 18 hours feeding.

  6. 60+ years

    A long life

    Elephants can live for more than 60 years. Maligawa Raja, the great tusker of the Temple of the Tooth, lived to about 75.

Calm at the heart of the Perahera.

Every Esala, the tusker of the Temple of the Tooth carries the casket of the Sacred Tooth Relic through the streets of Kandy. Around it are drums, whip-crackers and fire-ball dancers. The tusker walks steady and unhurried, on a white cloth laid before it as a mark of respect.

A tusker in a lit, embroidered costume at a Perahera at night, with attendants beside it
A tusker dressed in lights walks under a tall canopy at the Esala Perahera in Kandy, with torch bearers on either side
A tusker dressed in lights walks under a tall canopy at night, with torch bearers around it

Gentle, clever and never alone.

It knows its own face

Asian elephants have recognised themselves in a mirror, a test passed by very few animals.

It comforts its friends

When one elephant is upset, others come close, touch it with their trunks and make soft chirping sounds.

It speaks below our hearing

Elephants talk in deep rumbles. Part of the sound is too low for human ears and can carry for kilometres.

It bathes with the herd

At Pinnawala, the elephant orphanage founded in 1975, the herd walks down to the Maha Oya river to bathe twice a day.

Every detail, studied from life.

Scroll to move around Kandula, our flagship. Every mark you see was made by hand.

  1. The trunk
  2. The freckles
  3. The ears
  4. The tusks
  5. The bell
  6. The feet
  7. Now turn it yourself.

The trunk

Fine rings pressed in by hand, so it curls like muscle, not plastic.

One family, four characters.

Each piece is shaped and painted by hand, so no two freckle patterns match.

Handmade Sri Lankan tusker sculpture with a curled trunk, pale freckled face and ears, and a small bell

Kandula

Our largest piece. A calm tusker, trunk curled low, a bell at the throat and a cord at the ankle. Made to be the centre of a room.

L x W x H
25 x 15 x 20 cm
Weight
300 g
Turn it in 3D
Palm-sized elephant sculpture with its trunk raised, standing on an open handSide view of the Jaya elephant sculpture with its trunk curled upward

Jaya

Small enough to sit in your palm, trunk lifted in greeting. Many believe a raised trunk brings good luck.

L x W x H
15 x 10 x 13 cm
Weight
120 g
Palm-sized elephant sculpture with its trunk lowered, standing on an open hand

Shanthi

Palm-sized and unhurried, trunk lowered, mid-step. A quiet companion for a desk or shelf.

L x W x H
15 x 10 x 13 cm
Weight
120 g
Elephant sculpture with its trunk raised high and two small bells at its throat

Mangala

Trunk raised high and two bells at the throat. A tusker dressed for celebration, made for a doorway or a bright shelf.

L x W x H
18 x 13 x 14 cm
Weight
170 g

Made slowly. Made to stay.

Side view of an elephant sculpture

Study

Every piece begins with real Sri Lankan elephants: photographs, proportions and the way the weight sits on each leg.

The brow and trunk of the Kandula sculpture

Sculpt

The body is shaped by hand, from the heavy brow to the curl of the trunk.

Close-up of wrinkled skin texture on the sculpture

Texture

Wrinkles and folds are pressed in one area at a time, until the surface reads like real hide.

Close-up of pale freckles painted on the ear

Paint

A dark base, then the pale freckles, dabbed on patch by patch across the trunk, face and ears.

The tusks and bell of the Kandula sculpture

Finish

Tusks, bells and cord go on last. Then a final check in daylight before it leaves our hands.

Why it is worth keeping

No two alike

Shaped and painted by hand, so every freckle pattern is its own.

True to life

Proportions, ears, freckles and tusks follow the Sri Lankan elephant, not a cartoon of one.

Made in Sri Lanka

By Sri Lankan hands, for homes anywhere.

A gift with a story

Each piece comes with a card telling the story behind its name.

Handmade Sri Lankan tusker sculpture with a curled trunk, pale freckled face and ears, and a small bell

Bring a Hasthika home.

Orders, custom pieces or questions. Write to us and we will reply within one day.

lakdiluabesingha@gmail.com
Email us
WhatsApp+94 77 000 0000Instagram@hasthika