MADURAI: As per the guidelines of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) department, special arrangements and amenities are being made for temple elephants.
While the Meenakshi Amman Temple is building a swimming pool for Parvati, the elephant maintained by the temple, Kallazhagar Temple's Sundaravalli will soon take a stroll around the mango groove within the temple campus.
A Arunachalam, Deputy Commissioner of Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, said, "Recently we started constructing a swimming pool close to Yanai Mahal for Rs 23 lakh for our 26-year-old Parvathi. About 70 per cent of the work has been completed and the facility would be open within two weeks. Mud flooring too is being made at the elephant's shelter."
M Ramaswamy, Deputy Commissioner of Kallazhagar temple, said that they have sent a proposal to the HR&CE department seeking permission for Sundaravalli to use temple-owned mango groove. "The Madras High Court had earlier asked the State government to provide temple elephants with natural habitat. A year ago, a swimming pool was built for her," he added.
L Suresh, the mahout of Sundaravalli said elephants love to spend time in the swimming pool daily and such facilities would be of great use to them.
Deivanai, the elephant under the care of the Subramaniyaswamy temple, too, has a dedicated swimming pool, which was built in 2016. It also has an enclosed walking area, said Suresh, Deputy Commissioner of Subramaniyaswamy Temple.