Watch: Chaos At Thrissur Pooram After Two Elephants Go Toe To Toe During Parade

In Kerala, God’s own country, the Thrissur Pooram is the peak of magnificence. About 200 years ago, it was first presented as a spectacle. While primarily focused on the elephants, it is an all-inclusive festival. Two groups of fifteen finely tamed elephants compete across the temple premises during the main procession.

Witnesses from all across the state swarm Thrissur for this stunning 36-hour spectacle, which has up to 100 captive elephants participating. But things took a surprising turn when one of the elephants brought for the Arat rite at Mandarakadavu about the Arattupuzha Pooram festival attacked another.

In a viral video, people were seen running in all directions as a bejewelled elephant charged and struck another giant.

Thousands of devotees gathered to witness the final ritual and had to run for their lives on the narrow road after the incident.

Eight people—including a child—were hurt during the parade that was part of the well-known Arattupuzha Pooram festival in March, according to The Times of India (TOI).

A complete lack of safety measures was acknowledged by officials to TOI. There was no barrier between the elephants and humans, no public announcement system, no alcohol testing of the mahouts, far fewer volunteers than were needed, and no facilities for sedating elephants were in place.

The video is going viral on social media again and has garnered more than 3 lakh views.

A user commented, “Sometimes elephants get angry and cause a lot of destruction. They get annoyed by too much crowd and noise, therefore they should not be taken to crowded places. This will be good for both elephant and humans.”

Another user mentioned, “Every year one or more such incidents happen… No solution yet.”

A third user said, “Noise causes confined animals pain, fear and other problems. This might be the reason it happened.”

The predominant discourse among the users concerned the elephants’ unwillingness to be showcased.