Barriers needed to control Hindu devotees thronging to ailing elephant's side

Jahnava Nitai Das · August 3, 2002

Mon Jul 29, 3:25 PM ET

By ARCHANA MISHRA, Associated Press Writer

BHUBANESHWAR, India - Hundreds of Hindu devotees thronging to offer food to an ailing elephant forced officials in an eastern Indian town to set up crowd control barriers to prevent a stampede.

The elephant collapsed as it was returning home after taking part in a July 13 procession to honor three Hindu deities in the temple town of Puri in Orissa state. More than 700,000 people had joined the annual procession .

Officials in Puri, 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of the state capital Bhubaneshwar, said the elephant, named Laxmi, collapsed Wednesday a few kilometers (miles) outside the town and had been lying on her side ever since.

As word of Laxmi's plight spread over the weekend, hundreds of people turned out to offer the sick pachyderm food and sweets.

"Laxmi served the gods by taking part in the procession. It's now our turn to serve her when she's in distress," said Lakshmidhar Jena, who visited the elephant on Monday to offer it bananas and sugar candy.

As the crowds grew, officials put up wooden barriers on Monday to keep people from getting too close to the elephant or causing a stampede.

"We decided to put a wooden barricade around the animal to give her some fresh air," said Digambar Mohanty, Puri's district administrator.

The elephant may have collapsed due to dehydration as parts of Orissa are reeling from a prolonged heat wave with scorching temperatures, said Mohanty.

A team of experts from the state-run Bhubaneshwar veterinary hospital was being sent to diagnose Laxmi's condition, he said.

However, the elephant's plight has triggered protests from animal rights activists who condemned the use of elephants in processions attracting hundreds of thousands of participants.

"It is a sheer violation of animal rights", said Biswajit Mohanty of the Wildlife Society of Orissa, a non-governmental organization.

Jahnava Nitai Das · August 3, 2002

Orissa's Most Famous Elephant Recovering

PURI, INDIA, July 29, 2002: Laxmi, the elephant who became seriously ill during the Puri Rath Yatra, is now responding to medicines and the prayers of hundreds of villagers. Meanwhile the wildlife division has decided to take action against the district administration for using the animal without proper medical verification and authorization. After six days of agony, laying along the road where she fell after being marched several days back toward her home, Laxmi is now showing signs of improvement.