The Kerala Forests and Wildlife Department has issued a circular banning use of elephants for parading during festivals between 11 am and 3.30 pm in order to save the pachyderms from unbearable atmospheric heat in the peak of summer but temple committees are protesting against the move saying it could make conducting festivals impossible.
The Wildlife Department’s move has come close on the heels of the order issued by the State labour Department that workers toiling in open spaces should be given break between 12 noon and 3 pm after many cases of sunstroke were reported. Maximum daytime atmospheric temperature in certain places in Kerala has already crossed the 40-degrees Celsius mark.
The circular has also stipulated that elephants used for parading (Ezhunnallippu) in temple festivals should not be made to stand in the sun continuously for more than six hours. In unavoidable circumstances, however, parading the jumbos twice a day for four-hour periods could be permitted.
Another stipulation mentioned in the circular is that elephants used for Ezhunnallippu during night should not be made to work the following day. The circular also says that spectators at festivals should be kept at least three metres away from the elephants. Also, drunken mahouts should not be allowed to manage jumbos during festivals at any cost.
The Wildlife Department’s circular has come at a time when incidents of elephants running amok during festivals are being reported frequently as they are made to stand in open sun surrounded by tens of thousands of spectators. There are already several stipulations regarding the use of elephants for temple festivals.
However, organisers of the Thrissur Pooram Festival, known as the Pooram of Poorams in Kerala, have raised strong protests against the circular saying that the stipulations in it would make the conduct of the festival impossible. The Pooram, held right in the centre of Thrissur city, is being held on April 21 this year.
Organisers point out that giving noon break to elephants during Pooram is impossible as the most important part of the festival is being held at that time. The festival processions of the two participating temples, Paramekkavu and Thiruvambady, start at noon and end by evening. The two participating teams parade 15 elephants each for the festival.
“Also, we cannot guarantee that the elephants used for Ezhunnallippu during night would not be used the following day. The second day of the festival is as important as that on the first day. These stipulations are so absurd that there are even suspicions that these are meant to sabotage temple festivals,” said an organising committee member.