Sivasankaran, claimed to be Asia’s tallest domestic elephant, died at at the age of 56 at Ottapalam in North Kerala on Saturday. The pachyderm, which had a huge fan following, slipped and fell from a truck while being taken to a temple festival in Ottapalam.

At 10 feet nine inches tall, Sivasankaran looked majestic and towered above his fellow pachyderms. He was earlier known as Balanarayanan and became famous after being designated the tallest domestic elephant in Asia. Though a crane was brought to lift him up, Sivasankaran fell by the wayside at Manjoor and got all bruised. Being too weak to stand up, he lay on the road as a team of veterinary doctors rushed in to revive him.

However, their efforts went in vain as they found that the elephant was also not responding to medicines.