The Supreme Court's judgment staying the unworkable restrictions imposed by the High Court on the parading of elephants for temple festivals is highly commendable. The High Court's regulations had created a situation where temple festivals, including Thrissur Pooram, had to be held without elephants. Even if the festival was held with the participation of elephants, the police would have filed a case against the festival committee for not maintaining a distance of three meters between the elephants. The rule of not parading the elephant after nine o'clock in the morning was something that cannot be observed in any particular temple. It is disrespectful to temple rituals to insist that the procession should end at such an hour when the diety's Thidambu is mounted on an elephant.

In the lawsuit of skipping the Udayasthamana Puja in Guruvayur, the High Court had dismissed the petition saying that it is not right for the court to interfere in the matter of temple rituals. However, when the same petition reached the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court said that the practice that has been going on for years should not be changed. The Ekadashi had passed without the Udayasthamana Pooja by then. However, the decision of the Supreme Court has led to ensuring that the mistake should not be repeated from now on and that the traditional methods and pujas will continue as they are. It must be mentioned that this is a decision that has brought great relief to the devotees. When the issue of elephants came up, the High Court had intervened in a manner of obstructing temple rituals and festivals.

Customs should be given more importance than law in the case of temples. With the stay of the High Court order, the Devaswams can continue to conduct the festival in compliance with the Kerala Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules, 2012. It can be assumed that the High Court will become only a guide when issues like this continue to come up because the Supreme Court has pointed out that the High Court cannot be the authority that formulates new rules. A bench comprising justices BV Nagaratna and N Koteshwar Singh stayed the restrictions such as keeping a distance of three meters between the elephants and not using elephants in processions after nine in the morning. The court considered the petition filed by Thiruvampadi and Paramekkavu Devaswams. It has also been ordered to send notices to central and state governments and organizations working for animal rights.

The Supreme Court has also asked whether elephants can be instructed to keep a distance of three meters. Giving elephants to festivals is a business worth lakhs of rupees. Many elephant owners and mahout who take care of elephants are moving on with their lives with this income. Elephants are worth crores at present. It costs a lot to maintain one. One of the important sources of income for this business is the release of elephants for festivals etc. If all this is lost at once, no one will be willing to buy and foster elephants in the future. It is better for the peaceful existence of society that impractical judgments should not be made in matters related to temples without considering such consequences. This is the message given by the Supreme Court by ruling that the elephant can be paraded in the current manner.