Travancore Devaswom Board offers notorious jumbo for parades

ALAPPUZHA: The unruly jumbo Evoor Kannan, 26, of Evoor Sreekrishna Swami temple, is now available for parades at private functions. The violent animal had killed its mahout during the Amabalappuzha Sreekrishnaswamy temple festival on March 31, 2013, and is yet to get accustomed to crowds. But the Travancore Devaswom Board has inducted Kannan, which is now in musth, in the list of elephants to be used for parades. The offer list issued by the TDB earlier this year has hiked its rate from Rs 7,500 to Rs 15,000 and it has received several bookings.

An official with the TDB at Haripad said that the outflow of musth has been continuing for the last one month. It is currently being looked after by a new mahout at Evoor temple, he said. After the killing of the mahout, Kannan was chained and beaten up by fellow mahouts resulting in a deep wound on the front right leg. During the last four years, it has not been used for major parades. The TDB has taken a risk by allowing it for parades though it has avoided two elephants — Vadakkan Paravoor Sasi and Sasthancotta Neelakantan--from the 32-elephant list.

Mr H. Chandrasenan Nair, an elephant lover and secretary of Anushtaanam, a forum for conserving temple arts, said Kannan, which was brought from Assam, had posed threats to the people ever since he was offered to the Evoor temple nine years ago by a devotee from Haripad. "It never enjoyed the presence of crowds and the cacophony of percussions and flute.

“It had turned violent in September 2013 and caused spine injury to the mahout," he said. Kannan, which fell ill, was being treated for the last three years. The officer said that it had become a liability to the board which was spending at least Rs 7 lakh annually for its care.