ALAPPUZHA: The elephant lovers in Kerala have welcomed the move to use lifelike elephants (jeevatha) in temple festivals. The temple authorities of the Ardhanareeswara-Subrahamanyapuram temple Nadubhagom, Thaikkattussery, used five lifelike elephants for ‘ezhunallath’ recently.
Heritage Animal Task Force (HATF) secretary V K Venkitachalam said other temples could follow the suit to avoid elephant abuse and prevent accidents resulting from elephant attacks. The temple authorities used five elephant models made out of iron. The elephant models were adorned with nettipattom, thidambu, alavattom and venchamaram.
Temple trust president V N Babu said around `45,000 has been spent for all arrangements and `9,000 for making the elephant model. Venkitachalam said four persons have been killed and two injured in elephant attacks in last two months. Most of the elephant- related deaths happened during temple festivals. Thaikkattussery temple has now set an example for others to follow, he said.
More than 176 persons have been killed in elephant attacks in the last five years in the state. The violation of Captive Animal Parade rules has been cited as the main reason for elephant attacks. The Supreme Court has issued strict regulations regarding the parading of captive elephants. However, temples, Animal Husbandry and Forest Department were found flouting the rules.