The 54-year old elephant, Sivasankaran, attached to Kunnamthanam Madhathilkavu Bhagavathy Temple of Travancore Devaswom Board that had drowned in river Pampa on Thursday evening was cremated
as per the Hindu custom at Parumala near Thiruvalla in the early morning hours of Saturday.
The cremation of the pachyderm was held at Devaswom Board College grounds on the banks of river Pampa around 3 am on Saturday.
The cremation was delayed till 2 am following protests from devotees against using used tyres for preparing the funeral pyre. However, the issue was resolved after talks with representatives of the devotees
who insisted that only firewood should be used for the cremation.
Sivasankaran that ran amok killing a 56-year old man, Sasidharan, at Nakkada near Mannar and terrorising the villagers was given a trianguliser shot by the Elephant Squad from Pathanamthitta on Thursday afternoon. The pachyderm that entered the river, later, was reportedly drowned in it and the carcass was found in the downstream on Friday morning.
The carcass was lifted from the river with a crane and the Forest officials conducted an inquest. The carcass was taken to the Kunnamthanam Bhagavathy Temple premises for the devotees to offer tributes to it and it was cremated after conducting an autopsy, later.
