The Hindu : Kerala News : Koodamanikya fete to resume

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Friday, Apr 25, 2008
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Kerala

Koodamanikya fete to resume

Staff Reporter

Thrissur: The Koodalmanikya Temple at Irinjalakuda, near here, will resume its annual festival celebrations on Friday.

The celebrations were suspended and the festival was confined to mere rites on Thursday after an elephant, named Poabson Unnikrishnan, killed three persons in the temple on Wednesday.

The annual 10-day temple festival began on April 18.

District Collector V.K. Baby, top police officials and senior officials of the district administration held discussions with temple authorities on Thursday regarding the arrangements. The Collector said that assistance for the kith and kin of the dead would be given soon. The festival executive committeedecided to adopt stringent measures for elephant care.

“The committee will ensure that only the fittest elephants will be featured in temple festivities. Breath analysers will be used, with the help of the police, to ascertain every day whether mahouts are under the influence of alcohol,” a temple official said.

The elephant that unleashed terror on Wednesday was a picture of serenity on Thursday. Various aspects of Wednesday’s incidents are being probed. There are allegations that the elephant was beaten while taking it for feeding, handled by persons other than its regular mahouts, made to stand in the sun for hours on end and not given enough water.

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