Kerala - Thrissur   

`Anayoottu' ceremony held at Vadakkunnathan temple

Staff Reporter

Forty elephants were fed at the annual ceremony

MAMMOTH CEREMONY: Elephants being fed at an annual `anayoottu' (feeding of elephants) ceremony held as part of the Ashta Dravya Maha Ganapathy Homam at Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple in Thrissur on Monday.

Thrissur: Forty elephants were fed at the Silver Jubilee edition of the annual `anayoottu' ceremony of Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple here on Monday.

The ceremony was held as part of Ashta Dravya Maha Ganapathy Homam rites that were performed at the temple. Payyappilly Madhavan Namboodiri, melsanthi (chief priest) of the temple, inaugurated the `anayoottu' by feeding the elephant Kuttumukku Devanarayanan.

The elephants were given rice mixed with jaggery, ghee and turmeric powder. The pachyderms also got the opportunity to gorge themselves on coconut, sugarcane, pineapple, bananas and cucumber. Overeating was not a cause of worry. The elephants had herbal digestive powder, Ashta Churnam, at the end of the meal. About 500 kg rice was prepared for the elephants.

Rites performed

The Maha Ganapathy Homam rites were performed by priests led by Mundayur Sreedharan Namboodiri.

Therambil Ramakrishnan, MLA, District Collector K.S. Premachandra Kurup and Superintendent of Police T. Chandran, Cochin Devaswom Board member K.K. Menon and temple officials were among those present on the occasion.

Tens of thousands of elephant-lovers gathered at the temple to witness the `anayoottu.'

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