{"id":23195,"date":"2026-07-10T19:45:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T19:45:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/?p=23195"},"modified":"2026-07-10T19:45:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T19:45:30","slug":"robotic-elephants-draw-crowds-and-controversy-in-some-of-indias-hindu-temples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/2026\/07\/10\/robotic-elephants-draw-crowds-and-controversy-in-some-of-indias-hindu-temples\/","title":{"rendered":"Robotic Elephants Draw Crowds and Controversy in Some of India\u2019s Hindu Temples"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CHALAKUDY, INDIA, July 4, 2026 (Courant): The life-size robotic elephants in Prasanth Prakashan\u2019s backyard workshop have ears that flap, tails that swish and trunks that squirt water. But that\u2019s about all they have in common with their real-life counterparts revered across India as manifestations of the divine. The animatrons, crafted from fiberglass, iron and rubber, are intended to take the place of live elephants in Hindu temples. The change pleases animal welfare activists but upsets those who passionately believe real elephants are inextricable from the temple rituals and festivals where they are bestowed superstar status. The animal welfare group PETA and other nonprofits have donated about 40 robotic elephants, costing about $6,000 each, to Indian temples to replace live elephants.<br><br>Venerating elephants is not a concept unique to Kerala or Hinduism. Buddhists believe elephants are Buddha-like, symbolizing patience, wisdom and enlightenment. In Kandy, Sri Lanka, 100 decorated elephants parade the streets, the largest carrying the Buddha\u2019s tooth relic in a golden casket. In Kerala, festivals with live elephants are crowd-pullers. The Thrissur Vadakkunnathan temple\u2019s annual Pooram parade features about 100 elephants adorned in golden headgear and colorful silk caparisons. Many traditionalists don\u2019t believe robotic elephants belong in temples. K. Mahesh rents out his real elephant for festivals about 45 days a year. He believes elephants are holy. \u201cIf you don\u2019t believe elephants are sacred, what\u2019s the point of a robotic elephant in a temple?\u201d he asked. Mahesh has had his elephant for 25 years and says the animal \u201cis like a family member or a pet\u201d who brings joy to all, provided it is treated with care and caution. Several temple administrators have denounced robotic elephants for rituals and festivals.<br><br>Much more on the issue at source.<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courant.com\/2026\/07\/04\/robotic-elephants-draw-crowds-and-controversy-in-some-of-indias-hindu-temples\/\n\">https:\/\/www.courant.com\/2026\/07\/04\/robotic-elephants-draw-crowds-and-controversy-in-some-of-indias-hindu-temples\/<br><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CHALAKUDY, INDIA, July 4, 2026 (Courant): The life-size robotic elephants in Prasanth Prakashan\u2019s backyard workshop have ears that flap, tails,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23195"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23209,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23195\/revisions\/23209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}