Elephant parade at Poornathrayeesa Temple adheres to distance norms prescribed by Kerala High Court

As part of the Vrischikotsavam celebrations, Kerala Forest department officials enforce a three-metre distance between elephants during the parade at Sree Poornathrayeesa Temple, in compliance with a Kerala High Court order

The elephant parade as part of the Vrischikotsavam at Sree Poornathrayeesa Temple, Thripunithura, was held on Friday (November 29) by adhering to the Kerala High Court directive regarding the distance to be maintained between the pachyderms.

The tuskers were made to stand in two rows and maintain a distance of three metres each between them. While the first set of nine elephants was paraded at the Aanapanthal (shelter for elephants) located at the eastern side of the temple, the remaining were made to stand outside the panthal.

The parading of elephants is held at the time of Seeveli, the ritual involving the procession of a deity’s idol outside the sanctum sanctorum, twice a day.

A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court comprising Justices A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and P. Gopinath had directed the Cochin Devaswom Board authorities, who manage the temple affairs, to ensure a minimum distance of three metres between the animals while parading them.

The bench, which had held that the parading of elephants for temple festivals was not an essential religious practice, had turned down the plea of the Board to relax the distance norms.

The officials of the Social Forestry department led by Range Officer C.R. Sindhumathi had arrived at the temple in the morning before the commencement of the festival. They marked the positions where the elephants had to be displayed. The animals were paraded after confirming the distance rules prescribed by the High Court, the official said.

All temple rituals including parading of elephants were held on the day by adhering to the court directives, said Cochin Devaswom Board member M. B. Muralidharan.

The police and forest officials ensured that the animals were positioned for the parade at the stipulated distance, he said.

Published - November 29, 2024 08:45 pm IST