COLOMBO: Nadungamuwa Raja, the pride of Sri Lanka as revered by the country’s government, has faded into memory. Sri Lanka has lost its most sacred elephant at the age of 68. The pictures of Raja walking through the street accompanied by gunmen has gone viral on social media.

The tusker had an armed escort of elite commandos after a 2015 incident when a motorcyclist almost rammed into him while on an outing to attend a temple ceremony. The Sri Lankan government had decided to toughen the elephant’s security following the incident. What followed was Raja’s royal journeys.

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Raja, Sri Lanka’s pride, is actually an Indian. Born in the Mysore Palace in 1953, Raja was later shifted to Sri Lanka. The king had gifted two baby elephants including Raja to a doctor from Sri Lanka as the doctor cured the disease of one of the king’s relatives. However, it was only after reaching Sri Lanka that the doctor realized the difficulty in taking care of the elephants. Subsequently, he gave away the elephants to another person. During the period, Raja also worked in a wood mill among many other places. However, a royal life awaited him. The tusker got the name ‘Raja’ after he was bought by Dharmavijaya Vederalahamy, an Ayurveda doctor, in 1978. The doctor was a resident of Nadungamuwa. Hence, the elephant was called Nadungamuwa Raja. He was then 25 years old.

Raja passed away at the age of 68. Thousands have come to pay their respects to their beloved elephant. After the Buddhist funeral ceremonies, the elephant’s body was taken for stuffing. He was the one who had carried the sacred tooth relic of Lord Buddha for over a decade. The ceremony was held during the famous Esala Perahera festival in Sri Lanka. The box is taken out of the temple only once in a year. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has declared the people’s favourite elephant Raja as a national treasure of Sri Lanka.