Kerala Temple: The elephants who were brought to the temple for the celebration reportedly became upset after hearing the loud firecrackers, according to a local municipal councillor.
Two captive elephants that were brought for a temple festival allegedly went wild after crackers exploded near Koyilandy in the Kozhikode district of Kerala on Thursday, killing at least three people, including two women, and injuring 24 others in a commotion, according to officials with knowledge of the situation.
They claimed that the incident happened on the grounds of the Manakkulangara Bhagavathy temple in Kuravangad on the final day of the yearly festival.
According to Rajeesh, a local municipal councillor, “the elephants brought for the festival suddenly ran amok allegedly after hearing the loud sounds of firecrackers.”
Around 6 p.m., the incident occurred. The elephants were on exhibit for the evening procession, or “seeveli,” when one of them turned hostile and pushed the other elephant with its tusks after hearing the sound of the firecrackers. Many people were pushed to the ground during the brief altercation between the two elephants. As the elephants jostled one another, a makeshift festival office that had been set up also fell, the council member claimed.
He stated that it is unclear whether the three individuals were murdered in a potential stampede or by being crushed to death by the elephants. “A lot of people have suffered severe injuries,” he stated.
Cellphone footage of the event allegedly showed that one elephant used its tusks to push the other, causing the makeshift festival office structure to collapse. The tuskers were also seen fleeing the celebration site in the images.
The two elephants were quickly subdued, according to officials.
“It appears that the majority of the injured were those who fell during the commotion and were kicked upon,” Koyilandy MLA Kanathil Jameela told the media. Individuals on top of the two elephants also fell to the ground and were hurt. The Taluk Hospital is treating the 24 injured, while the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital is treating the remaining patients who have more significant injuries. A 10-year-old girl is among those injured.”
According to her, the sound of the crackers initially set the elephants off, causing them to become hostile.
We frequently hear about elephant-related problems at other temples. We are unable to say at this time if all of the regulations and instructions were adhered to. In any case, there is a propensity to break rules during these kinds of gatherings,” she stated.
Ten days had passed since a captive elephant during a temple festival in Chittattukara, Thrissur district, murdered a 38-year-old man before the event in Koyilandy. After a ritual at a mosque in the Palakkad district near Kootanad on February 6, an elephant crushed a mahout to death.
According to information the state’s forest department provided to the high court in August of last year, Kerala is home to 388 captive elephants, 349 of which are privately owned and the remainder are in the forest department’s custody. The vast majority of elephants in private care are frequently used in religious holiday parade. Elephant processions are “part of age-old traditions,” according to Hindu temple committees. Nonetheless, there are frequent reports of wild elephants roaming loose and mahouts torturing them during celebrations.
A high court bench issued comprehensive rules regarding the display of captive elephants during religious festivals throughout the state last year. The court ordered that there be a three-meter space between elephants, that processions on public highways be prohibited from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and that the elephants be given at least eight hours of rest each day. Additionally, it stated that the public stand and the area where the elephants are on display should be separated by 100 meters.
Two significant Thrissur temple administration boards, however, appealed the high court’s rulings to the Supreme Court, arguing that the rules would cause temple celebrations to come to a complete halt.
The highest court granted relief to the organisers of the temple celebration on December 19 of last year by staying the high court’s orders.