A temple elephant named Ambalappuzha Vijayakrishnan was allegedly tortured and killed by the TDB (Travancore Devaswom Board) authorities at Alappuzha in Kerala. Vijayakrishnan’s fans swelled the premises in sorrow and it turned to rage against the erring authorities. N Vasu, the Devaswom Board President, deployed by the communist regime to calm things faced stiff resistance when he visited the Shri Krishna Temple and was pelted with chappals by irate locals.
Had the local police deployed there not intervened in his extraction he would have ended up in a hospital, or worse. Hindu Keralites love their domesticated elephants with huge tuskers, especially the ones that are deployed in temple festivals. Such elephants even have fan clubs and followers who actually follow the elephant anywhere he goes. Infants are nurtured and raised with active participation from the public.
Vijayakrishnan was continuously paraded neglecting his deteriorating health with the consent of the veterinary doctor even though he had serious injuries, especially on his front right leg and he could barely walk. It is also alleged that this injury was inflicted by its mahout using sharp knives. The TDB deputy commissioner who approved the elephant’s movement from one temple to another has been suspended. Vijayakrishnan’s fans had complained following which forest officials intervened and brought it back to Ambalapuazha but the damage had been done and it succumbed to its injuries.
That they cost a lot to maintain is taken for granted and citizens donate for his upkeep. The communists figure them as mere temple assets that they can pawn, often against the wishes of the elephant itself. This results in neglect of the tusker itself and this is exactly what happened at Ambalapuzha.
Temple festivals last anywhere from a single day to weeks. Elephants attract crowds of devotees, especially the young ones. Children adore them and queue up to see one. The flip side is that elephants are now forced to attend such festivals indiscriminately and once the elephant starts to show its displeasure, the communist cadre who masquerade as Hindu mahouts make sure that it is killed. The Devaswom then makes sure that no action is taken against such erring elements and they are then transferred to another temple.
More importantly, the system has made sure that mahouts employed in temples consume alcohol while on duty. An easy excuse whenever a mahout errs is to blame the alcohol. Why do government employees drink while on duty is never even debated! The mahouts on the contrary can be transferred as per the whims and fancies of the Devaswom by merely mentioning alcoholism. This even though it is pretty sure that they will continue doing the same in the next temple!
An earlier Mahout was unceremoniously transferred citing alcoholism and two new ones were brought in all the way from Trivandrum, even though enough were available in Alappuzha. The main mahout had a history of unnatural elephant deaths under his watch, making the latest his third. Two mahouts have been suspended by the TDB for the death of Vijayakumar and the main Mahout, Pradeep has been now arrested.
Welcome to the world of temple anarchy using the same Devaswom that was originally formed in the 1950s alleging mismanagement of our temples. Look at what a mess political intervention had made it now! That the decay of temples is speeded up by depriving them of funds is exactly what the conversion mafia wants and is exactly what the communists have been contracted to accomplish using employees like Vasu. Free temples NOW should be the slogan if any of our Hindu customs and traditions have to be salvaged and saved from total decimation.
Vasu’s predecessor A Padmakumar, another CPM party nominee asked the supreme court for more time to implement the entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala issue but did not ask for a review of the controversial judgment. The Advocate who appeared for the communist government meanwhile said that it was in favor of the court verdict.
The now-disgraced CPM State Secretary, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, decided to replace Padmakumar with N Vasu, who was then the Devaswom Board Commissioner. More importantly, it is alleged that it was Vasu who met the government advocate and spelled out the government policy. This is an insight into how the Devaswom is used by the CPM unilaterally to push its anti-Hindu agenda for the sake of vested interests.
Padmakumar had earlier refused to toe the party line and pleaded with them to allow women only during the monthly poojas and not during the festival season, ie. from mid-November till mid-January. He clearly stated that lakhs visit during the festivals but only a few thousand come during the monthly poojas, meaning that crowd control would be a lot easier for the authorities. Why was this tuned down?
It also made it clear that Vasu was nothing but a puppet in the hands of the communist party and even in the last days of the regime party cadre are busy destroying Hindu traditions and customs.
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