Major Hindu Temple festival season in Kerala begins by January mid-week and ends in April. And this is the cruelest and toughest period for the living representatives of Lord Ganesha, one of the most popular deities in Hindu pantheon. More than 400 captured elephants in Kerala that are trained to perform duties during temple festivities are paraded in the numerous temples in the scorching sun during this period. Interestingly, it is not written in Hindu scriptures that elephants should be part of temple festivals. In fact Ganesha symbolizes that man and animals (all animate and inanimate) are nothing but Brahman – the Supreme Being. Caparisoned elephants are paraded to satisfy the egos of the temple committee members and to gain superiority over the temple in the next village or town. Thanks to the tourist promotion campaign ran by the Government of Kerala, caparisoned elephants are one of the biggest attractions in the state. Elephants killing people during templ