Elephant Manikandan dies at Omallur temple after illness

Kottayam: Gajaratnam Omallur Manikandan died on the premises of Omallur Rakthakanta Swamy temple at 6.30pm on Wednesday. The 55-year-old elephant, owned by the devaswom board, was being looked after at Omallur temple.The elephant was not in good health for the past month. Locals and elephant lovers' group had requested the devaswom board to provide expert treatment to the elephant, after which expert doctors were brought in from Thrissur and Ernakulam. The elephant's condition was very bad for the past two days. Although the doctor provided medicine, an attempt was made to lift the elephant using a crane on Tuesday afternoon, but to no avail.The elephant, which was owned by film actor K R Vijaya, was presented to Sabarimala temple and later became Gajaraja under the name Manikandan. The then Sabarimala tantri had named it Manikandan. The elephant used to carry the thidambu at Sabarimala Sannidhanam for many years.