Last month Puducherry bid farewell to its beloved Lakshmi, the elephant who stood at the entrance of Sri Manakula Vinayagar Temple for years, ‘blessing’ devotees. The 32-year-old animal collapsed on the road and died of a suspected cardiac arrest during a routine morning walk.
Several decades ago, temples under the purview of the HR&CE Department had at least 100 elephants in all. But over the years, the aging and death of elephants has left temples with just 29.
According to officials, elephants are a necessary part of temple rituals since the presiding deities of specific temples are considered kings, lords and masters.
A study by Asian Nature Conservation Foundation, T.N. Forest Department and HR&CE Department details the difficulties that temple elephants faced. On an average, each animal spent 15 hours within the enclosure. All the elephants observed had chains on their legs and about 46% had two chains.
