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Elephants feast on delicacies at ‘anayoottu’ in Thrissur

— PHOTO: K. K. Najeeb

FEEDING TIME: Feeding of elephants at the Sree Vadakkunnathan temple in Thrissur on Wednesday.

Thrissur: As many as 45 elephants were fed at the annual ‘anayoottu’ (feast for elephants) held at the Sree Vadakkunnathan temple on Wednesday.

Temple melsanti (chief priest) Kottampilly Narayanan Namboodiri offered rice balls to a four-year-old elephant, Kuttumukku Kannan, marking the inauguration of ‘anayoottu’. The elephants that were made to participate in the programme included Paramekkavu Padmanabhan, Rajendran, Kuttumukku Rajasekharan, Vallapuram Adityan, Chepulassery Neelakantan, Kuttankulangara Ramadas, Chirakkal Mahadevan, Kuttankulangara Arjun, Nanu Ezhuthachan Sreenivasan and Mangalamkunnu Ayyappan, Kuttumukku Ambadi, Chirakkal Sivan, Nandilath Chanthu, Oottoli Mahadevan and Olari Sreehari. They were given a mix of rice, bananas, jaggery, honey, corn, pineapple and sugarcane.

An ‘Ashtadravya Maha Ganapati Homam’, performed by priests led by thanthri Puliyannur Sankaran Namboodiri, preceded the feast for elephants. About 10,000 coconuts, 2,000 kg of jaggery, 1,000 kg of rice flakes, 200 kg of ghee, 50 kg of honey, sugarcane and sesame were used for the ‘homam’.

The Kerala Elephant Lovers’ Association has demanded an inquiry into making an elephant that had wounds participate in the ‘anayoottu’. “The elephant, which was brought from Kollam, did not have the mandatory microchip. Forest Minister Benoy Viswom had told the Assembly on June 26 that elephants without microchip will not be allowed to be paraded in public places,” the association said.

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