THRISSUR: It is ubiquitous in temple festivals to see Elephants adorning a caparison over their trunk. With the emergence of new media, elephants in temple festivals turned out not just as a matter of pride but are revered by a strong fan base that is extending over different age groups. However, there are also many cases that see the giants running amok amidst the crowd creating pandemonium.

To quell many such worries, the Thrissur Kalettumkara Srikrishna temple did something unprecedented. The festival was graced by a tusker Irinjadapilli Raman, who waves his ears and swindles his trunk in repeated motion but stays fixed at one spot, and he has no mahout to tame him. Yes, It is a robot.

Pet India sponsored the robotic elephant to the temple. With just a glance, one may mistake it for a real one, such is the intricate carving and development made to the structure. The elephant works on batteries and is almost 10 feet long.

The figure is almost 800 kg. A total cost of Rs 5 lakh was spent to make the reel one grace the temple field. It was an arduous work of two months that helped built the gigantic figure. The elephant is moved in a trolley for all purposes.