THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An emotional farewell was given to the senior elephant Mathilakam Darshini of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, who died on Saturday. The forest department rejected locals demand to bury the elephant in the temple land as the local conservation code of conduct barred the elephants from being buried in an uninhabited one-acre area. So, her resting place is in the Sankhili forest in Kulathupuzha forest range.

65-year-old Darshini, who had served Sree Padmanabhaswamy for half a century, died at 9.45 pm on Saturday. She was suffering from an abdomen-related ailment and was under treatment for a week. Darshini was lodged at Bhajanapura palace premises due to her illness. Many including dignitaries paid homage to Darshini.

13-year-old Mathilakam Sudarsana bid final adieu to Darshini. There was a guard of honour by the police. A team led by Shaji Kumar, Kulathupuzha DFO took steps to shift the body. Chairman of the governing body district judge P Krishna Kumar, members Aditya Varma, Kummanam Rajasekharan, Prof P K Madhavan Nair, executive officer V Suresh Kumar and Manager B Sreekumar were present. After the post-mortem, she was cremated in Kulathupuzha yesterday.

Darshini was brought from the forest in 1966 along with two other females. Since Indira Gandhi was then sworn in as the Prime Minister, the three were named Indira, Priya and Darshini as a mark of respect to her. Darshini was gifted to the temple by Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, the last king of Travancore. The temple administration informed that a memorial will be constructed for her who accompanied the temple’s araat and Shiveli to Shanghumugham.