Poornathrayeesa temple authorities booked for violating distance norms during elephant parade

Kochi: The Forest Department filed a case against officials of the Poornathrayeesa Temple at Thrippunithura here for failing to maintain the required distance between elephants during their parade as part of the annual Vrishchikolsavam. The social forestry wing of the state forest department registered the case on Monday night.

A senior forest official stated on Tuesday that while the elephants were paraded with the three-metre distance mandated by the Kerala High Court during the first three days of the festival, the temple management violated these guidelines on Monday evening.

"We had been strictly monitoring the festival over the past two to three days. On Monday evening, all 15 elephants were paraded together, breaching the High Court's prescribed norms," the official told PTI.

The case has been filed under sections of the Kerala Captive Elephant (Management and Maintenance) Rules, as well as in accordance with the High Court's directives. The case will be presented in the local court, and a report will be submitted to the High Court, the officer added.

The High Court recently described the life of a captive elephant as an "eternal Treblinka"—referring to the second deadliest extermination camp operated by the Nazis during World War II—and outlined conditions that must be followed for permission to parade elephants at festivals or other events.

The High Court noted that captive elephants were widely used in religious festivals in Kerala, often justified as part of tradition and religious practice. However, it stated that the animals were being commercially exploited without adequate care. "Thus, the possession of most of these elephants appears to be illegal, which needs to be verified by the government," the court remarked, while specifying the conditions for granting parade permissions.

Among the stipulations were adherence to a model feeding schedule, the issuance of fitness certificates only by a government veterinarian, provision of shaded, clean, and adequate shelter, and a minimum of eight hours of rest per day.

The court also set conditions on the transportation of elephants for exhibitions, stating that no elephant should be transported on foot for more than 30 km per day, with distances beyond that (up to a maximum of 125 km) to be covered by vehicle. Additionally, no elephants should be transported between 10 pm and 4 am, no procession of elephants should take place on public roads between 9 am and 5 pm, and no elephant should be paraded for more than three continuous hours.