Temple in India's Kerala introduces robot in place of elephant for performing rituals

NEW DELHI, March 1 (Xinhua) -- A temple administration in India's southern state of Kerala has introduced a life-size robotic model of an elephant to carry out rituals inside its premises.

The move is aimed at replacing captive elephants from being used in the temple's festivities.

The mechanized elephant has been unveiled at Irinjadappilly Sree Krishna Temple in Thrissur district, about 285 km north of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala.

According to temple officials, the 11-foot-tall robotic model, weighing 899 kg and made of an iron frame and rubber coating was donated by an animal rights organization.

The mechanized model looks like a real elephant. When being operated it flaps its ears, wags its tail and moves its trunk.

In temple festivities of Kerala usually chained, saddled and decorated elephants are used to perform rituals and they form an important part of the celebrations.

The development comes at a time when calls for abandoning the age-old tradition of involving elephants in performing rituals are gathering momentum.