Can anyone help with the origin of the architectural term 'elephant porch', which was/is used to describe the entrance porch to many buildings in the colonial style (particularly in India) ? A good example of an elephant porch can be seen at Doveton House in Chennai (Madras), described on its webpage as a "stately Georgian colonial mansion with a lofty elephant porch", see: http://womenschristiancollege.org/doveton.htm Did the term derive from the fact that the columns of the porch were tall like elephant's legs ? Or maybe because it looked like an elephant with howdah on top , as the roof of the porch sometimes formed part of an upper storey verandah ? Or was it because the porch appeared high enough for an elephant to walk under ? Or, simply, just because it was large (ie elephant sized) ...? My father's (unpublished) autobiography refers to the house in Madras where he was born in 1908 as "a large house, with a spacious compound, and the sine qua non of an 'elephant porch' ..."

Axel, Interesting question, that! Personally, I had never earlier heard of 'elephant porch'. One would feel tempted to say that the elephant porch was so named as it would accommodate a whole elephant with a howda - a sitting box - under it. Riding an elephant was a sign of status and was a privilege that the ruler would bestow on important grandees. A rich trader, for example, could not buy an elephant for personal use just because he had the money for it! Having an elephant porch at the entrance of a mansion would advertise its owner's status to the world. However, I would not think that elephant porches in large houses of Raj times really indicated that the person living in the house had his own elephant. A horse and a carriage were much more practical means of transport. I think an elephant porch would just mean a tall porch. Arvind Kolhatkar, Toronto, March 06, 2008.