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23 March 2018

More News of Rukku’s Death



Rukku was brought to Arunachaleswarar Temple at the very young age of 3 years. She remained alone and in service at the Temple for 27 years after she had been given to the Temple by the Tamil Nadu Government

Her death is believed to have occurred as a result of  injuries sustained when she was being walked on her way to her enclosure. While walking through the Temple’s fifth prakaram a pack of dogs barked and ran towards it. Rukku tried to run away and hit a barricade. The mahout and a few others managed to calm her and gave her water. After a while, she was taken to her shed. However, Rukku panicked when a dog ran towards it. When she tried to run away, she hit a tin sheet and sustained multiple injuries.

Temple authorities engaged a veterinarian, however Rukku died within two hours of the accident. 15 days before her 30th birthday

She was laid to rest near Anjeneyar Temple (Vada Othavadai Street) in the afternoon after a team of six veterinarians performed a postmortem.

A senior forest department official said they had collected samples of vital organs for a detailed analysis to ascertain the cause of the death. “It will take two week to get the report,” added the official.

Hundreds of devotees and residents of Tiruvannamalai paid homage to their beloved elephant whom they called ‘Rukku’. One of the priests in the temple said Rukku was gentle. “The sudden death of the elephant disturbs us. We offered special prayers.” 

[Abridged from report in Times of India]


3 comments:

  1. Many people in town have been talking about this strange story of stray dogs frightening Rukku. Where did the dogs come from? Now that there is security on the entrances to the Temple, its difficult even for a mouse to sneak in. And if the dogs are old timers and clever enough to sneak in, they would know Rukku . . . she was living at the Temple for 27 years and often would go through the town with processions.

    An elephant is as big as a house and it would take a very stupid dog to charge it . . . elephants can toss giant lions and buffaloes . . don't think a dog would be much of a problem.

    I've seen Rukku walking on the streets around the Temple many times and in all that time only saw one dog bark at it . . . when Rukku turned to look at it, the dog ran away so fast . . . it was like a lightening flash.

    All this seems to be a very strange story.

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  2. Until the truth comes out, Rukku is with Arunachala. Must have got moksha. RIP sweet Rukku

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  3. The SPCA should be called to investigate. I think poor Rukku was killed. Alas the dear noble being to have met with such a cruel end? ��

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