In a historic and progressive move, a temple in Kerala has discontinued its 120-year-old custom of parading elephants during its annual festival.
Sreekumaramangalam Devaswom of Sree Kumaramangalam Subramanyaswamy Temple at Kumarakom in Kottayam, Kerala chose to utilise the funds earmarked every year for parading elephants to construct a house for a homeless member of the local community.
The temple, which was established by Sree Narayana Guru, used to parade elephants during the annual temple festival, and the custom was followed even during the last year. However, this year, the committee took the decision to stop the parading of elephants as part of its commitment to promoting compassion towards animals and addressing pressing social concerns. The temple authorities said the decision was made to spread awareness about the prevention of cruelty to elephants and to highlight the growing risks associated with using captive elephants in festivals.
“Elephants are revered in our culture, but it is also our responsibility to ensure their well-being. The stress and discomfort faced by these majestic creatures during festivals cannot be ignored,” temple devaswom president A K Jaya Prakash told “Open Digest“. “With increasing incidents of elephant attacks during such events, it is time we rethink traditions that compromise the safety of both animals and humans,” he said.
The funds originally allocated for hiring and parading elephants—an expensive tradition involving elaborate decorations and transportation—will now be redirected towards building a home for a homeless community member. The temple committee emphasised that this step aligns with the core values of compassion and service, which are integral to the temple’s philosophy. The seven-day annual festival which began on March 3 concluded on March 10.
Apart from discontinuing the elephant parade, the temple also decided to do away with massive fireworks display. “We cut short the fireworks display to just five minutes as part of our decision to reduce noise and environmental pollution. Though there was some opposition from a few corners to our decision to discontinue elephant parade and cut down fireworks display, majority of the people stood with our decision. We are happy and proud to have taken such a progressive decision spreading the message of compassion and green,” Jaya Prakash added.
