by Anura Guruge
on July 7, 2024
I heard about this, this morning, on ‘BBC Radio‘ (that I listen to in the mornings during my amble). Another thing I have learnt, recently, from the BBC. They even mentioned that the keeper tried to stop the elephant by grabbing it by its tail! I was gobsmacked. That was pretty stupid. When elephants ‘go wild’ folks do the craziest things. Way back, close to 60 years ago, at a carnival at the (old) ‘race course’ in Colombo a baby elephant (under 1-year old) started running around and charging into tents. When it came into the tent we were in, my father, a BIG MAN (in every sense), whacked it, on the shoulder with his hand — with all his might. The baby, shrieked, just like a human baby, turned tail and ran away.
The media, including the U.K. Daily Mail & BBC claim that this happened at a Hindu festival. NOT SO. Hindu temple, BUT a Buddhist festival! Yes, ONLY in Sri Lanka. This temple, in southern Sri Lanka, ‘Kataragama‘, one that I used to visit multiple times a year during my time there, is the 2nd most popular Buddhist pilgrimage site in Sri Lanka. I would reckon that Buddhists visiting this temple outweigh Hindus by a million-to-1! Yes, Hindu temple, Buddhist temple.
I am NOT happy with how elephants are getting treated in Sri Lanka — especially by the Buddhists, who should no better. They should not be used for PERFORMANCES — religious or not.
