Ailing jumbo not treated properly, say devotees

Salem: Hours after the Madras high court on Monday allowed the mercy killing of the ailing 42-year-old female jumbo, Rajeshwari, the temple elephant of the famous Sri Sugavaneshwarar shrine in Salem, scores of shocked devotees began thronging the ‘Nandhavanam’ at Aathukaadu near here to have a last glimpse of their affectionate pachyderm bedridden for the past few months. 

The female elephant Rajeshwari’s tale presents a picture of poignancy, sadness and helplessness on the part of a team of doctors who have been trying their best to put her back on feat, while a section of devotees flagged the blame game, pointing fingers at the temple administration’s ‘lethargic attitude’ towards her.
Rajeshwari came to Salem as a five-year-old calf in 1981 from the Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary under an exchange programme. Since then her presence in all the temple festivals and other important occasions won her the affection of devotees over several decades, sources familiar with the development told DC. 

However, in an unfortunate turn of events, for the last ten years, Rajeshwari has been suffering from tuberculosis and the temple administration promptly put her under the charge of veterinarians’ care and she was under treatment. But more recently, her first fall came when a few years back she stoutly declined to get into a truck that was to take her to the temple elephants’ rejuvenation camp. In a fit of rage, Rajeshwari jumped out of the truck, injuring her left leg badly. Since then, the jumbo’s health began to deteriorate as her medical problems compounded. 

Sources said since last year, the festering wound on Rajeshwari’s leg and her accentuating TB had begun to affect the jumbo’s health very seriously, despite veterinarians attending on her regularly. She was then taken to the temple’s ‘Nandhavanam’ at Aathukaadu near here and after sometime the elephant was not able to stand on her legs. 

In a coordinated effort, the temple administration, with the HR & CE department officials and Forest department officials, arranged for continued medical treatment in a bid to make Rajeshwari stand on her legs. However, on March 17, 2018, when attempts were made to physically lift her with a poclain machine, things worsened for her. One of her tusks got broken in the process and even as the jumbo was flipped to the other side, she collapsed and became bed-ridden.  

As Rajeshwari’s health took another nosedive, a special medical team including veterinary doctors from Chennai and Namakkal Veterinary hospital led by a specialist in the field Dr Manoharan continued with their intensified treatment of the elephant. But there seemed to be no visible improvement in her health as the bed-ridden Rajeshwari developed multiple sores on her body and was struggling to breathe. It was at that stage, one Muralidharan approached the Madras High Court seeking permission for mercy killing of the jumbo whose health seemed irretrievable. 

Mahout blames doctors

The decision has not gone down well with the devotees. Rajeshwari’s mahout, Bhaskaran, who has been taking care of her for the past eight years, was in tears that her life will be now sniffed out by ‘mercy killing’. He blamed the doctors for not taking enough care during the treatment, particularly when they decided to life her with a poclain. That badly impaired one of her legs, he said.

Devotees shocked

A. Radhakrishnan of the ‘Salem Thiruthondargal Sabhai’ termed the High court’s decision “utterly shocking” to all devotees. He blamed the temple administration for not feeding and taking care of Rajeshwari properly, adding, he had filed a complaint with the Alagapuram police station seeking legal action against the temple officials for not taking adequate care of the jumbo and for allegedly nudging a wildlife activist to get the court’s nod for mercy killing.