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]
