Almost Blind, Aged Elephant Who Has Killed 13 Allowed To Be Paraded In Kerala Temple Festivals
Thechikottukavu Ramachandran is a celebrity of sorts in Kerala and he has a huge fan base who would go crazy seeing him.
No, we are not talking about any film stars, but an elephant.?
Over the past few decades, he has become a superstar and a star attraction in the traditional parades for the temple festivals in Kerala.
But Ramachandran, who is owned by Thechikottukavu temple in Thrissur and stands at 320 cm, making him the tallest living captive elephant in India has a dark side too.
So far he has killed, 13 people, including 6 of his former mahouts and three other elephants. Adding to this is the fact at the age of around 55, he is well past his prime and is completely blind in one eye, and is gradually losing vision in the second one too.
But that has not stopped his so-called fans from demanding that the tusker, whom they call Raman should be paraded in temple festivals, especially the Thrissur pooram, the biggest of it all.
And this time his fans may have their wish as the Kerala government has lifted the ban on parading him for temple festivals.
Ramachandran was banned from temple festivals in 2019 after it killed two people.
The elephant was spooked by the sound of firecrackers and ran amok, trampling two people on the way.
Since then Ramachandran had been banned from parades and it was only temporarily lifted once last year.
But this year, the government has allowed the elephant to be paraded twice a week in Thrissur and Palakkad for temple festivals.
However, there are some 'guidelines' that the government has issues for the same.
Ramachandran should be accompanied by four mahouts and no other human being will be allowed within 5 metres of him. An elephant squad should also be on standby throughout.
Originally called Moti Prasad, the tusker was brought to Kerala from Bihar in 1984 and was donated to the Thechikottukavu temple, where he was renamed, Ramachandran.
Thanks to his looks and high, Ramachandran soon became a star attraction in festivals, and according to reports the Devasom charges up to around Rs 2.75 lakhs for parading him once.
The parading of elephants in temple festivals in Kerala has always been controversial. While animal rights activists say that the tuskers are tortured and made to stand in the hot summer sun for hours, without providing adequate food and water, the others defend the practice saying it is part of their tradition.?
