01:15India: Touch the elephant's tail and your dreams will come true
India: Touch the elephant's tail and your dreams will come true
Several hundred people gathered in the Umayanellur Lord Balasubramania Swamy temple at Kollam district of southern Indian state of Kerala, Tuesday, to take part in an annual temple festival with the main event being the ritual of touching the sacred elephant's tail.
The ritual commemorates the childish pranks of Lord Subramania in chasing his brother Lord Ganesha to pull him back by his tail. Lord Ganesha and Lord Subramania are the children of Lord Siva and Parvathy.
The ritual starts with elephant running for a distance of nearly 60 meters before the devotees who have undergone a strict fasting regime chase after the elephant and try to catch a hold of the elephant by its tail. The elephant named "Thrikkadavur Sivarajan" that participated in this year's festival was doing so for the eleventh time, according to the temple authorities. The temple is believed to have been constructed some 2,000 years ago, by Adi Sankaracharya an ancient Indian Guru.
01:15India: Touch the elephant's tail and your dreams will come true
Several hundred people gathered in the Umayanellur Lord Balasubramania Swamy temple at Kollam district of southern Indian state of Kerala, Tuesday, to take part in an annual temple festival with the main event being the ritual of touching the sacred elephant's tail.
The ritual commemorates the childish pranks of Lord Subramania in chasing his brother Lord Ganesha to pull him back by his tail. Lord Ganesha and Lord Subramania are the children of Lord Siva and Parvathy.
The ritual starts with elephant running for a distance of nearly 60 meters before the devotees who have undergone a strict fasting regime chase after the elephant and try to catch a hold of the elephant by its tail. The elephant named "Thrikkadavur Sivarajan" that participated in this year's festival was doing so for the eleventh time, according to the temple authorities. The temple is believed to have been constructed some 2,000 years ago, by Adi Sankaracharya an ancient Indian Guru.