Perumpilavu: Tusker Thechikkottu Ramachandran has set a new record for the highest auction price in elephant Ekkathuka (auction amount). The Akkikkavu Konganur Desham Pooram Committee has successfully secured the tusker for ₹13.56 lakhs in an auction to have him parade at the Akkikkavu Bhagavathy Temple Pooram, scheduled for February 7, 2026. This surpasses the previous record of ₹13.55 lakhs, set last year for the tusker Thrikkadavoor Sivaraju.

The intense auction took place yesterday at the Peramangalam Thechikkottukkavu Devaswom office. The bidding reached new heights when the Cheeramkulam Bhagavathy Temple Committee entered the competition, hoping to feature Ramachandran at their festival on February 8, 2026. The previous record had been set by Sivaraju during last year’s Cheeramkulam Pooram. In a determined move to break that record, the Konganur Desham Committee raised their bid to ₹13.56 lakhs.

This will mark the fifth consecutive year that Ramachandran will parade for the Konganur Desham. The tusker has been carrying the thidambu (idol of the deity) for the committee for the past 16 years.

In 2024, the Padinjaremukku Desham Committee had paraded Thechikkottu Ramachandran at the Pooram of the Challissery Mulayamparambathukavu Bhagavathy Temple for ₹13.33 lakhs, which had set a previous record.