Bhaktisandesam / Guruvayoor Padmanabhan

February 11, 2006

Hari-OM

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King of Elephants Honored in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, KERALA, INDIA, January 17, 2006: The state

capital witnessed a rare reception with the chief minister, a former

chief minister and a minister among those attending the ceremonial

welcome of Guruvayur Padmanabhan, the famed pachyderm who has held

pride of place at the Guruvayur temple for over 50 years. Guruvayur

Padmanabhan, the tallest tusker among all the elephants in Kerala

temples, was making his first trip to the capital. Chief Minister

Oommen Chandy received the " King of Elephants " at the Padmanabha

Swamy temple on Monday, and presented a " ponnada " and a gold locket.

Devaswom Minister K.C. Venugopal and Democratic Indira Congress (K)

leader K. Karunakaran, an ardent devotee of Guruvayurappan, were also

present.

Padmanabhan had been held in high esteem at the Sri Krishna temple in

Guruvayur for over 50 years and was in the city in connection with a

festival at the Mahadevar temple in Parassala and the Vishnupuram

Mahavishnu temple in Perumbazhudur near here. It is also the official

bearer of the " Thidambu " at the Guruvayur temple for several years.

Five caparisoned elephants, mounted police, orchestra, band and a

large number of elephant lovers accompanied the majestic tusker in a

procession to the Padmanabha Swamy temple from Karamana, about 3km

from the city. As Padmanabhan strolled through the streets to the

reception venue, floral tributes were paid by thousands of people.

Even before the arrival of the tusker, the east gate of the

Padmanabha Swamy temple was thronged by thousands of elephant lovers.

Padmanabhan had never run amok during a festival all these years and

is honoured for his calm and obedient behavior. It also holds the

record for the highest fee collected by an elephant when he bagged

US$5,000 for participating in a temple procession in Palakkad in 2004.

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Jai Shree Krishna !

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