THRISSUR: Tusker Ravikrishnan emerged as the winner in the 'Aanayottam' (elephant race) ceremony held on Monday, marking the beginning of the annual festival at the Sree Krishna Temple in Guruvayur.
Due to Covid restrictions, the Guruvayur Devaswom Board had cut down the celebrations and only three elephants participated in the race to ensure that the rituals were not affected. The elephants for the race were selected through a draw of lots.
Usually, all the elephants of Guruvayur Devaswom, which are physically fit, take part in the Aanayottam ceremony.
Ravikrishnan, the 44-year-old elephant which won this year's race, was offered to the Guruvayur temple in 2003 by a Palakkad native Sivashankaran. The other two elephants that took part in the ceremony were Devadas and Valiya Vishnu.
The elephant race began at 3 pm from 'Manjulal' to the east entrance of the Sree Krishna Temple. The elephant that crosses the east entrance of the temple first is considered the winner.
The ceremony came to an end after the winning elephant took a circumambulation of the temple. The winning tusker will carry the idol of Sree Krishna for the Sheeveli during the 10-day Utsavam of the festival.
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It is believed that the Aanayottam is being held in memory of an incident that happened during the rule of the Zamorin and King of Cochin. Back then, when the Guruvayur temple didn't have tuskers, the elephants for the festival used to be brought from the Zamorin's provinces. Legend has it that when once the Zamorin didn't send elephants for the festival, tuskers from the palace started running towards the Guruvayur temple on the day of the beginning of the annual Utsavam. The elephant race is being conducted every year to mark this incident.
This year, there were restrictions for the public to enter the inner ring road at Guruvayur due to the Covid protocol. Before the outbreak of the pandemic, the elephant race used to be a major ceremony in Guruvayur with huge crowds thronging the temple from various parts of the state and even outside.