The Thrissur district administration has denied permission for parading elephants for the Paramekkavu temple festival.
The festival is celebrated to mark the installation of a new golden ‘kodimaram’ (flag mast) at the temple. Earlier the administration had given permission for the temple for parading seven elephants for the arat procession from the temple to the Sree Vadakkunnathan temple.
Petition
An emergency meeting of the District Captive Elephant Monitoring panel held on Tuesday cancelled the permission on the basis of a petition filed by the Heritage Animal Task Force.
In the petition, the task force noted that the Supreme Court in 2015 had ordered that no permission should be given for new festivals. “The State government in 2012 itself had issued an order stating that no new festival should be conducted in the State henceforth. The Supreme Court in 2015 had asked the State to implement its 2012 order,” pointed out V.K. Venkitachalam, secretary of the task force. He said the ongoing celebrations at Paramekkavu were part of a new festival.
Meanwhile, the Poorapremi Sangam has requested the district administration to reconsider the decision to cancel permission for elephant parading. “It is an attack on rituals and festivals,” it alleged.
