Tiruvannamalai Arunachaleswarar Temple elephant dies

Tiruvannamalai Sri Arunachaleswarar Temple elephant Rukmani died in the early hours of Thursday after it sustained injuries. It died 15 days before its 30th birthday.
The cow elephant was laid to rest near Anjeneyar Temple in the afternoon after a team of six veterinarians performed postmortem. Hundreds of devotees and residents of Tiruvannamalai paid homage to their beloved elephant whom they called ‘Rukku’. Priests offered special prayers.

The elephant was brought to the temple at the age of three years and domesticated. It was in the temple for close to 27 years. The elephant was given by the Tamil Nadu government to the temple.

The elephant sustained injuries when it was taken out for a regular walk around 9pm on Wednesday. When it was walking through the fifth prakaram of the temple, a pack of dogs barked and ran towards it. The elephant tried to run away and hit a barricade. The mahout and a few others managed to calm down the elephant and gave it water. After a while, it was taken to its shed. However, the elephant panicked when a dog run towards it. When it tried to run away, it hit a tin sheet and sustained multiple injuries.

Temple authorities engaged a veterinarian and treated Rukku. However, it died within two hours, said the sources in the temple.

To read the full article, click on the story title