Tiruvannamalai temple jumbo dies after hitting wall

The elephant, after blessing devotees as usual on Wednesday, was taken for rest to a spot near the temple’s Tirumanjana gopuram in the fifth praharam. When it reached the spot, a fight broke out between some dogs, one of whom ran between Rukku’s legs. The scared elephant ran and hit its head against a metal wall and fell down. 

A local veterinarian who examined the jumbo said she would be alright soon despite injuries in the left eye and body. However, Rukku died around midnight. A team of veterinarians took the animal’s blood samples and sent them for tests to the central government’s lab in Chennai. Collector K S Kandasamy visited the spot and held an enquiry. 

A local favourite, Rukku was the cynosure during major temple functions, according to temple officials. During the Karthigai Deepam festival, the container (copra) in which the festival fire would be lit, would be carried to the top of the 2,660-ft high Annamalai hills only after Rukku blessed it. 

Born in Mudumalai on April 30, 1988, Rukku was gifted to the temple by former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in August 1995. The elephant was buried after last rites near the Hanuman temple. Due to the elephant’s death, poojas and abishekam were cancelled and would be restarted only after parikaram was done, officials said. 

On hearing the news, students and devotees rushed to the spot.

A sub-adult jumbo died after it got trapped in a pit filled with sewage and slush in a resort at Bokkapuram near Singara in the Nilgiris on Thursday. 

The elephant, aged about eight, fell into the pit at the resort functioning illegally in the notified elephant corridor in the hills. Inspection by the Forest Department staff revealed that the animal had struggled hard to get climb out of the pit.