8-year-old male elephant brought to Arunachaleswarar temple

An eight-year-old male elephant named Heeralal has been brought to the Arunachaleswarar Temple in Tiruvannamalai, bringing joy to devotees.
The elephant was brought from Assam and arrived at the temple premises around 9.30 p.m. on Thursday. Heeralal is around six feet tall. The elephant was given a traditional welcome in front of the Rajagopuram. Temple officials, led by Executive Officer Paranitharan, performed special prayers and deeparadhanai before welcoming the elephant with flowers.
A large number of devotees and members of the public gathered outside the temple to witness the arrival and gave the elephant an enthusiastic welcome. It was later taken into the temple premises by a lorry through the Thirumanjana Gopuram route. The temple had earlier had a female elephant named Rukku, which died on March 22, 2018, at the age of 30. Rukku had served the temple for around 23 years after being brought there at the age of seven.
Various sections had subsequently demanded that an elephant be brought back to the temple.
After a gap of around eight years, the arrival of the new male elephant has brought renewed enthusiasm among devotees.
The elephant was shifted after the required No Objection Certificate from the Tamil Nadu Forest Department and other documents were verified.