NILGIRIS: Fifteen captive elephants took part in the Vinayagar Chathurthi festival celebration at Theppakkadu elephant camp in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) on Wednesday evening.
Two elephants, ‘Bommi’ and ‘Krishna’, rang the bell and conducted pooja, and both also knelt before the Lord Ganesha temple at the entrance of the camp. Out of 27 elephants, 17 are maintained at Theppakkadu elephant camp, and 10 are maintained at Abhayaranyam elephant camp.
Tourists were allowed at the camp, where they took selfies and pictures alongside 15 elephants that were lined up for feeding from 5:30 pm to 6 pm. “We provided fruits to elephants on this special day and informed tourists about the importance of captive elephants.
We have also provided Pongal and Sundal to tourists,” an official of the department said. A similar celebration for captive elephants was also held at Kozhikamuthi elephant camp in Anamalai Tiger Reserve near Pollachi.
To facilitate worship at Asia’s largest Ganesha idol located in Puliyakulam, Coimbatore city police cancelled vehicular movement on the Ramanathapuram-Puliyakulam road. The devotees had to wait in the queue for over two hours.