Royal life for elephants in Kerala

Kerala, July 20 (ANI): Elephants in Kerala are having gala time after monsoons set in.

The month of July falls as the last month of the Hindu calendar in the state, which is considered as a month for rejuvenation and resting for the pachyderms.

A Hindu temple in Quilon district organised special rituals to mark the formal beginning of the rejuvenation treatment for the much-loved animals.

At a special temple ritual, the animals were offered prayers in front of the deity.

The session began with the temple priest feeding an elephant. Thereafter the elephants were taken to their respective owners for rejuvenation treatment. The elephants will be treated to a host of nutritious food items including pulses, jaggery, sugarcane, pineapple and others delicacies.

Elephants are deeply revered in India, with the elephant-headed god Ganesha one of the most popular in the Hindu pantheon.

But despite their divine status not all are lucky and hundreds continue to be ill treated and overworked at illegal circuses and temples where they spend 9-10 hours carrying tourists and locals.

India has an estimated 30,000 wild and captive elephants, about half of whom live in the isolated northeast bound by Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Myanmar and Nepal. (ANI)