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Temple elephant

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Mahout washing his elephant. Temple in Kanchipuram

Temple elephants are a type of captive elephant. Many major temples own elephants; others hire or are donated elephants during the festive seasons. Temple elephants are usually wild animals, poached from the forests of North East India from wild herds at a young age and then sold into captivity to temples. Their treatment in captivity has been the subject of controversy and condemnation by some,[1] while others claim that elephants form a vital part of the socio-economic framework of many temple ceremonies and festivals in India, particularly in the South.[2]

The largest elephant stable in India is Punnathurkotta of the temple of Guruvayur; it has about 59 captive elephants; it currently houses 58 captive elephants, of which 53 are adult males and 5 are females.

To reduce the burden on exisiting domesticated elephants, robotics companies Four He-Art Creations and Aanamaker with PETA India and group Voices for Asian Elephants began construction of imitative animatronic elephants. The first robotic elephant was donated to the Irinjadappilly Sree Krishna Temple in Thrissur, Kerala in 2023; 5 more robot elephants have been made for temples across the South India region since.[2]

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ New documentary exposes abuse of India's sacred elephants
  2. ^ a b Nadia Nooreyezdan (30 Sep 2024). "PETA is building robot elephants for Hindu temples". Rest of World. Retrieved 23 Oct 2024.
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