Kanchi mutt jumbos get retirement home on ECR

Chennai: Three female elephants which have spent more than 15 years at the Kamakshi Amman temple in Kancheepuram have found a retirement home on the scenic East Coast Road.
Elephants Sandhya, 42, Indu, 29 and Jayanthi, 19 are now relaxing at the rescue and rehabilitation centre in Kurumbaram village near Marakkanam after the Kanchi mutt decided to rest these gentle giants.
TREE Foundation chairperson Supraja Dharini told TOI that this was the first-ever rescue and rehabilitation centre for wildlife in the state where the three temple elephants are the first residents.
TREE Foundation started the centre with permission from the state forest department.
All these years, the elephants' primary duty was to stand for long hours 'blessing' devotees. Jayanthi was brought for puja at Kamakshi Amman temple in the morning and the Kanchi mutt in the evening.
Sandhya was the first to land at the mutt, in 1981, when she was seven-and-a-half-years old. The mutt bought her from Karnataka forest department for 20,000. She replaced Kamatchi, who was overgrown and was unable to enter the doorway.
Indu came from from the Wynad forest division in Kerala in 1987. Jayanthi was a gift from Assam in 2001 when she was three years and 10 months old.
Two mahouts who were handling the elephants at the mutt have also moved to the rehab centre to take care of the animals. The three elephants were transported from Kanchipuram last Thursday.