Watch: Elephants Lock Horns During Temple Festival In Kerala
Shocking videos have emerged on social media showing an ugly fight between two elephants during a temple festival in Kerala.
The incident happened on Friday night in Thrissur district during the Tharakkal temple pooram festival.
Traditionally the pooram festival concluded with ornate elephants carrying the deities of different local temples coming face-to-face to bid adieu.
Elephant turns violent?
But during the ceremony on Friday night, an elephant, Guruvayur Ravikrishnan carrying the deity of the Ammathiruvadi Temple in Urakam, suddenly turned violent.
The elephant initially tried to violently shake its body and pull the mahout seated on it down before turning its attention to another jumbo.
As panicked devotees watched on, Guruvayur Ravikrishnan charged at Puthuppally Arjunan, another jumbo carrying the deity of Arattupuzha Temple.
Fight between two elephants
In videos that have gone viral, the two elephants can be seen locking horns briefly but the aggressor came out on top.
Ravikrishnan then continued to push Arjunan through the crowd and outside the temple complex.
Subsequent drone videos showed Ravikrishnan chasing Arjunan on a busy road for well over a kilometer before the Elephant Task Force brought the situation under control.
Several people including the mahouts of the two elephants were injured in the incident.
Increase in elephant attacks in Kerala
Captive elephants have become an integral part of temple festivals in Kerala. However, animal rights groups have long alleged that these elephants are overworked and abused during the festival season, making them more aggressive.
In fact, Kerala has a long history of captive elephants running amok during temple festivals and fatally injuring both humans and other jumbos.
Over the years, the authorities have made several attempts to crack down on the abuse of elephants and ensure that they are parades in a safe environment.
This includes restrictions on parading elephants during the day in summer and keeping them at a safe distance from devotees.
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