At Kerala's Thrissur Pooram, a chaotic incident during the Arattupuzha Pooram festival saw elephants clashing, injuring eight people, amid reported safety lapses.
Kerala’s Thrissur Pooram, renowned for its grandeur, witnessed an unexpected and chaotic event during the Arattupuzha Pooram festival. The festival, celebrated for over 200 years, is a dazzling display of cultural splendor and is primarily highlighted by a grand procession of elephants. This year, however, the event took a disturbing turn.
During the Arat rite at Mandarakadavu, one of the festival's elephants, adorned in elaborate decorations, suddenly charged at another elephant. The scene quickly descended into chaos as the elephants clashed, causing panic among the thousands of devotees who had gathered to witness the final ritual. People scrambled for safety on the narrow road, and eight individuals, including a child, were injured during the melee.
Elephant kalesh in pooram festival
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The incident, captured in a viral video that has amassed over 3 lakh views, has raised serious concerns about the safety measures. Officials admitted to The Times of India (TOI) that several critical safety protocols were missing. There were no barriers between the elephants and the spectators, no public announcement system to manage the crowd, and a lack of alcohol testing for the mahouts. Additionally, the event suffered from insufficient volunteer presence and no provisions for sedating the elephants if necessary.
The footage has reignited discussions on the need for stricter safety regulations at such large-scale cultural events to prevent similar occurrences.
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