Rockfort Thayumanaswamy Temple elephant Lakshmi has her own own bathing pond.
The pond has been created at the nandhavanam of Naganathaswamy Temple situated on Nandhi Kovil Street, close to the Rockfort, the city’s famous landmark.
Lakshmi took a liking to the facility straight away and splash around during the inauguration held on Thursday in the presence of R.Sudarshan, Regional Joint Commissioner of Hindu Religous and Charitable Endowments, T. Vijayarani, Assistant Commissioner, Thayumanaswamy Temple, and other officials.
The bathing pond, measuring about 22x22 feet in size and four feet in depth, has six shower heads too to keep the pachyderm cool.
“We have set up the facility at the direction of HR and CE Minister and in consultation with the Forest Department. at the nandhavanam of the adjacent Naganathaswamy Temple as the facility had to be on ground level and the immediate surroundings of the terrain around the Rockfort is rocky,” said Ms.Vijayarani.
The facility has been established at a cost of about ₹5 lakh contributed by donors, she added.
A bathing pond for Thiruvanaikovil Jambukeswarar Akilandeswari Temple elephant was inaugurated recently. Srirangam Ranganathaswamy Temple elephants too have bathing facilities with showers.
No public darshan today
Meanwhile, the Rockfort temple authorities have said the temple will be out of bounds for the public on Vinayagar Chaturthi on Friday in view of the pandemic.
However, all pujas and rituals associated with the festival will be conducted as usual at Manicka Vinayagar, Thayumanaswamy and other shrines at the temple in strict adherence to the Standard Operating Procedure, Ms.Vijayarani said.
