PETA India and actress Priyamani made headlines as they donated a life-sized mechanical elephant named Mahadevan to the Thrikkayil Mahadeva Temple in Kochi, Kerala. It is a noble initiative by the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals and actress Priyamani aims to protect elephants while also respecting the rituals and sentiments of the locals. 

Posting on X (Twitter) PETA India wrote, "Mahadevan will help real elephants stay with their families in their jungle homes, where they belong."

 

 

Priyamani expressed her thoughts on providing a safe and secure environment for both animals and humans and said, "It gives me great pleasure to donate this mechanical elephant with PETA India to allow devotees to take part in auspicious ceremonies in a safe and animal-friendly manner." People online are praising the initiative online, one user commented, "Animal-friendly, progressive initiative. Temple needs to be lauded for this step."

The ceremony was held on Sunday and talking about the inauguration of the mechanical elephant, the owner of the Temple, Thekkiniyedath Vallabhan Namboothiri said, "In reverence to all of the animals created by God who want to live free and safe with their families just as humans do”.

This is not the first mechanical animal used for cultural practices. Last year the Irinjadappilly Sree Krishna Temple in Thrissur district installed the first mechanical elephant for temple rituals. The temple has pledged to not use live animals for rituals, becoming the first temple in Kerala to have a robotic animal. 

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