THE last day of the annual rejuvenation camp at Thekkampatti near Mettupalayam was perhaps the hardest for the mahouts and kavadis caring for the temple animals. Understandably,
no jumbo had the desire to part with their friends or the place of rest and comfort. It took the
handlers quite some time to get the animals on to the waiting trucks. By the time Minister
Sevvoor S Ramachandran agged o the 28 elephants, the sadness for their departure was
mingled with some relief for the end of the day’s work.
Speaking at the closing event, the minister said that all animals had been fed green fodder,
besides astasooranam, bioboost, etc., to maintain their health. Their diet was as prescribed by
veterinarians. The animals had also been made to walk ve kilometres every morning and
evening during the 48 days of the camp. Mahouts and kavadis were given special training to
take better care of elephants and bond with them, he detailed.
For the entertainment of the caretakers, yoga and sports competitions was conducted for
them, he added.
K Rajesh, handler for Srirangam Temple’s Andal, reported that she had spent the entire stay
in a happy mood and was well, mentally and physically. While she had been subjected to a
time schedule at the temple, she had been free of it all at the camp and had enjoyed it, he
added. However, she and a few other elephants had experienced some uneasiness due to the
weather, he said.
He remarked that this year’s camp was much more organised that the ones of the past decade.
All arrangements had been well taken care of, he mentioned.
According to HR and CE Joint Commissioner K Rajamanickam, the government had allotted
1.47 crore for the camp this year’s camp. Sources said that they would soon know if additional
funds were required to settle the payments. A team from Vandalur had taken blood and hair
samples from all elephants at the camp as part of the identication process. This was the rst
time such a process has been done a the camp, they added.
K Rajesh, Andal’s mahout
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