Thechikkottukavu Ramachandran (born ) is an Indian elephant owned by Thechikottukavu devasom, a temple in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. Commonly known as simply Raman, he is the tallest living captive elephant in Asia , standing at 321.5 cm. they gave Ramachandran the title ''Ekachatradhipathi'' (). The partly blind elephant plays a key role in several

Pooram Pooram pronounced is an annual festival, which is celebrated in temples dedicated to goddesses Durga or Kali held especially in Valluvanadu area and other adjoining parts of north-central Kerala (Present Palakkad, Thrissur, Kannur, Kasara ...

festivals. In 2018, 50,000 spectators gathered to watch Ramachandran kickstart Thrissur Pooram at

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...

’s Vadakkumnathan temple. However, he has been banned from public display on multiple occasions.

Incidents

Due to Ramachandran's popularity, temples in Kerala have wanted him to carry God’s idol during temple festivals to attract a crowd. He had previously been banned by the authorities for causing the deaths of 13 to 15 humans and at least three other elephants. People close to Ramachandran claimed that the elephant never killed people intentionally, but, rather, accidentally. The ban was lifted and Ramachandran was allowed to continue participating in festivals. Both the pachyderm and his mahouts have been subjected to criticism by the media and other elephant owners. In 2015, an attempt was reportedly made to kill Ramachandran by mixing blades in its feed.

Thrissur Pooram

Since 2011, Ramchandran has performed the ''Poora Vilambaram'' in the Thrissur Pooram, the largest

festival. He pushes open the south entrance gate of the

Vadakkunnathan Temple Vadakkumnathan Temple is an ancient Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva at city of Thrissur, of Kerala state in India. This temple is a classical example of the architectural style of Kerala and has one monumental tower on each of the four sides ...

, marking the beginning of the religious festival. After a 2019 incident in which Ramachandran trampled two people to death, the animal was banned from being paraded at temple festivals after a panel of medical experts deemed it medically unfit. The elephant was given conditional permission to participate in Thrissur Pooram on May 11, 2019, after a team of three veterinarians had the elephant pass a fitness test and conducted a medical examination of the tusker.

References

{{Reflist 1963 animal births Individual elephants Elephants in Indian culture Individual animals in India Elephants in Hinduism Elephants in Kerala

Incidents

Thrissur Pooram

See also

References