temple festival on Thursday
Thrissur: Kerala’s tallest tusker Thechikkottukavu Ramachandran is back to the temple festivals as the authorities lifted the ban on parading it. The District Monitoring Committee of Captive Elephant Management and Maintenance has given the conditional nod for parading the elephant during the festivals in Thrissur and Palakkad districts.
But this permission will not be applicable for Thrissur pooram. Special permission is needed to parade Thechikkottukavu Ramachandran in Thrissur Pooram.
Soon after getting the permission, the celebrity tusker was paraded at Poothrikkovu temple festival in Peramangalam on Thursday.
It was in 2019, the Chief Wildlife Warden issued an order banning Ramachandran from parading. The order noted that the elephant has health problems and it is not fit to be taken for public functions including temple festivals.
The District Monitoring Committee of Captive Elephant Management and Maintenance summoned on February 5 sought a report of an expert panel to lift the ban on the elephant. As per the report of this panel, the committee has granted conditional permission to parade the elephant.
Due to strong pressure following the ban, Thechikkottukkavu Ramachandran was taken for a one-hour long ritual of Thrissur Pooram Vilambaram ceremony in 2019.
Now, the authority has granted permission to parade the tusker after receiving the affidavit of Thechikkottukavu devaswom committee. As per the affidavit, the complete responsibility of the security during ‘Ezhunellippu’ ceremony will be taken by the Thechikkottukavu devaswom, the owner of the elephant.
District collector S Shanavas is the chairman of the District Monitoring Committee of Captive Elephant Management and Maintenance. Assistant forest conservator PM Prabhu is the convenor of the committee.
