Four temple elephants belonging to different shrines in Tiruchi were given a send-off on Sunday for the 48-day rejuvenation camp at Thekkampatti near Mettupalayam in Coimbatore district. The camp for the jumbos is to begin on Monday.
‘Andal’ and ‘Lakshmi’ from Srirangam Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, ‘Akila’ from Sri Jambukeswarar Akilandeswari Temple, Tiruvanaikoil, and ‘Lakshmi’ from Rockfort Sri Thayumanaswamy Temple were sent by separate lorries from Srirangam here in the morning.
Each elephant was accompanied by its respective mahout and assistants besides Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment department officials during their journey to Thekkampatti. A pooja was done before the journey that began from the Yatri Nivas in Srirangam. The Joint Commissioner, HR & CE, Tiruchi Region, R. Sudharshan and department officials were present.
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On Saturday night, ‘Bhooma Devi’ the temple elephant of Sri Oppiliyappan Temple at Tirunageswaram near Kumbakonam and ‘Avayambikai’ of Sri Mayuranathaswami Temple at Mayiladuthurai left for Thekkampatti.