Temples, Elephants & Traditions -11

So far we have seen two significant facts in this series. One, the present pathetic status of captive elephants, and, two, the various kinds of evidences (Vedic, Agamic, Puranic, Historical, Literary, Architectural, Epigraphy, etc.) for the glorious tradition of domestication of elephants in our country.

Now the question before us is, “Whether a solution is available for the continuation of the tradition of keeping elephants in temples, while at the same time taking care of their welfare”. The answer is “Yes”!

However, to achieve such a noble objective, there needs to be a perfect coordination between the various stakeholders namely governments, government departments, animal welfare organisations and Hindu religious and cultural organisations. Hindu citizenry must also cooperate with them.

All the above-mentioned stakeholders must coordinate well to implement the following steps and guidelines, so that the twin objective of continuing the temple tradition and ensuring the welfare of elephants is achieved.

Steps and Guidelines

The ‘Tamil Nadu Captive Elephants (Management & Maintenance) Rules 2011’ must be implemented in letter and spirit.

All elephants must be under the control of a single department namely the Forest Department. Elephants must not be given to Individual private persons. Religious institutions like Mutts and Temples can be given license to keep and maintain elephants, provided they ensure the required infrastructure to keep the elephants and strict implementation of ‘Tamil Nadu Captive Elephants (Management & Maintenance) Rules 2011’.

Elephants must be used only in big temples and each such temple must be given two or three elephants in order to avoid isolation of the animal which is habituated to be in a group or herd. Whenever a calf is brought to a temple or a Mutt, it should not be brought alone or separated from its mother. Instead, both the mother and calf must be brought together. The practice of keeping a solitary elephant in temples must be banned with immediate effect.