One of the elephants that ran amok in Gururvayur Sri Krishna Temple Sunday. Photo: ManoramaGuruvayur: The Sri Krishna Temple went through some tense moments Sunday morning when three elephants ran amok during a religious procession. A mahout, who was attacked by one of the elephants, succumbed to the injuries later in the day.
Mahout Subhash, 37, was the victim.
The confusion started at 7:15 am when a procession of elephants reached the Ayyappa temple for the seeveli rituals. One of the tuskers, Sree Krishnan, got irritated with the pilgrims shouting behind him.
Sree Krishnan’s sudden outburst panicked the other elephants, Ravi Krishnan and Gopi Kannan. They ran amok too, sending the pilgrims running for cover. Devaki Amma, 63, and Hrishikesh, 12, were injured in the melee.
Ravi Krishna was soon brought under control and chained even though he ran out the temple. Gopi Kannan, the lead elephant, shook off the idols he was shouldering. A priest on top of him, Meledam Hari Namboodiri, hung on to a lamp post to save his life.
The elephant proceeded to the Anakkotta before he was chained at the Sree Krishna School.
The elephant who started the panic, meanwhile, ran to the northern section of the temple where he was trapped by the low ceiling. He was later led to the elephant camp.
Othikkan Pottakkuzhi Narayanan Namboodiri and the other priests continued with the ritual after the rectification ceremonies. Hari Namboodiri carried the idol in his hands to complete the procession. Order was restored in the temple by 9 am.
Sree Krishnan had created trouble in the temple earlier. He had injured a pilgrim in 2010 during the famed elephant run. He stabbed another elephant before submitting to his mahouts.
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