Thrissur bids farewell to tusker Padmanabhan

THRISSUR: Hundreds of people from various sections of the society paid their last respects to tusker Paramekkavu Padmanabhan, which died on Tuesday night. Percussionist Peruvanam Kuttan Marar was among those who offered tributes to the tusker, which was the lead elephant for the Paramaekkavu devaswom in Thrissur Pooram for about 15 years.
The mortal remains of the elephant was later taken to the Kodanad for performing the last rites after postmortem.Forest veterinarians Dr David Abraham and Dr Binoy C Babu led the autopsy team. An accidental contusion on the ventral chest, appeared to be the immediate cause of death of the elephant, Dr Abraham said.
The 59-year-old tusker was ailing for the past couple of days and was under treatment. It had fainted while walking about a week ago. Even though it was lifted up using crane, it fainted again and died on Tuesday night.