See link for photo.
—
Thuravoor: Four elephants, who were brought for a temple festival here, ran amok, creating panic in the area for several hours on Thursday.
The elephants were to take part in a procession in connection with the ‘Dhanuvam Onnu’ festival at the Thuravoor Mahakshetram.
No one was injured in the incident and there was no major loss of property, police said.
The incident took place around 6.30 a.m. One of the jumbos, Keezhoott Viswanathan, became unruly when it was being taken for a bath. When it attacked another elephant called ‘Kannan’, the remaining two animals, Umamaheswaran and Pampady Rajan, went berserk triggering a commotion on the temple premises.
Though Pampady Rajan was brought under control by his mahout, the other three jumbos continued to run from one location to the other.
After several hours of effort, Umamaheswaran was tied with ropes and brought under control with the help of other mahouts and local people.
Viswanathan, who stood adamantly in the middle of a paddy field for hours, was lured with bananas and jaggery to come out.
A large number of devotees had thronged the temple premises for the annual ritual. However, a possible major accident was averted as the news of elephant fury reached them very late.
The situation was brought under control when the police officials from Kuthiyathodu and Pattanakkadu stations reached the spot.
The procession was cancelled following the incident. The jumbos were shifted to another location by afternoon.