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Journalism of Courage
THRISSUR, May 14: He perhaps prayed a little too hard. But in the end K M Gopalakrishna Kurup from Punalur in Kollam district could donate his 36-year-old elephant to the famous Sree Krishna temple at Guruvayur, raising the total number of elephants in the Guruvayur devaswom to 43.
Kurup had performed an indefinite bhajan8217;, along with the pachyderm, in front of the temple on May 12 in protest against the devaswom authorities8217; refusal to accept his offer of an elephant to it. Today his offer was accepted and the earlier misgivings reportedly due to an unfortunate communication gap8217; between him and the devaswom authorities was resolved.The nadayiruthal'dedication ceremony was performed by the Melsanthi chief priest and the elephant was named Gopalakrishnan.
The 66-year-old Krishna devotee could hardly have imagined his move would thus backfire. Basically a farmer, Kurup started a business a few years ago, which has been sluggish. So when it suddenly turned a corner recently, Kurup a regular visitor to the Sree Krishna temple here for 25 years was convinced it was due to the blessings of Guruvayoorappan. To show his gratitude, the farmer decided to offer an elephant to the Lord, which he purchased recently from Tiruvalla for Rs 5.5 lakh.
On April 25 this year, says Kurup, he sent an application to the Guruvayoor Devaswom, seeking permission to offer a tusker. The latter asked him to first produce a certificate from a veterinary doctor on the health of the animal and also bring along a valiya kol long stick with metal hook used to control elephants and a name plate with the tusker8217;s name.
Kurup claims he met all these requirements and the Devaswom officials gave him an oral permission to install the elephant at the temple on May 8.
However, when he arrived on the scheduled day with the animal in tow, says the devotee, the authorities refused to take it, saying 8220;the Managing Committee of the Devaswom had decided not to accept offerings of elephants for the time being.8221;
