The temple trip, couple of serpents and an elephant.

Another day on the road, another elephant ambling along the highway. This time my son was wide awake. However, even though we tried to show him the elephant, he could not see it - maybe the car was a bit too fast for his eyes to focus on the animal.

Decided that it is best to take him up close to an elephant. There is a temple near my wife's
home which I know has an elephant. I had been there earlier to photograph/videograph the animal taking a leisurely bath. So, last Saturday evening, me, my wife, son & my sister-in-law
(SIL) set out for the temple.

I have been to countless Hindu temples in my life - to admire the old architecture, to just
look around, to just sit near the ambala-kulam (temple pond), etc. However, as things stand today in India, religion is increasingly being used to spread hatred against people practicing
other religions. While most religions teach us to live in harmony with all, politicians in India
are using it as a tool to invoke hatred, in an attempt to increase their vote-bank.

It is an unwritten rule in most temples that non-Hindus should not enter the temple. In some
temples, they even have it clearly written at the entrance itself. The sanctum-sanctorum is
especially out-of-bounds for non-Hindus. However, the 4 of us have nothing on us that visibly identifies us as Christians and so we walk into the temple premises. Ofcourse, we decide not
to enter the sanctum-sanctorum - why take an unnecessary risk ?

We remove our footwear outside the compound (as instructed on a notice board there) and
walk inside. First stop is the serpent shrine - where there are two idols representing the
serpent gods (one male and another female). We walk around the temple taking in the sights
and reach the place where the elephant is tethered.

There is a steel gate at the entrance to the elephant's area, but it is left open. Maybe because
the elephant is anyway chained to a huge concrete pillar and because that flimsy steel gate
won't be any hindrance for such a big animal anyway.

A view of the huge animal with the gate in the foreground.



There is a huge pile of coconut tree leaves in front of it, which it is munching on.



It takes one of the long leafy stems, strips and eats all the green on it and with its trunk uses
the long stem to scratch its back. While my wife and her sister stay a little away, I walk to the gate with my son in my arms. As he takes in the sight of this big animal that he has never seen before, I look at his face. His eyes are wide as he tries to make sense of what is just some 15 metres away. He is captivated by the sight of the animal eating, scratching its back etc.

Suddenly, the animal turns sideways to face us, stops eating and just looks at the four of us.



This does not look good and my wife is now a little terrified and urges us to move away. I think
it is better to be safe, lest something about our presence irritates the animal. I know that those chains will be broken in a jiffy if the animal puts its mind to it and the iron gate will be history
if the animal just about nudges it with its trunk.

So, we move to the adjacent temple pond, which was good because from there we could still
have a good view of the animal, yet be at a safe distance.



We spend some more time watching the animal. It still seems to be looking at us. Time for a close-up of the animal. After all there should be some use for the 15x optical zoom that I paid through my nose for. Looks menacing up-close.


Visit done, we return home and on the way, my SIL points out a 20-metre section of damaged wall of the temple. Result of another elephant gone beserk - no wonder my wife & SIL maintain
a respectable distance from the animal.