MLA's 'jumbo' offering

After accepting the offering, Dharmadhikari D Veerendra Heggade said this was the first time an elephant had been donated to the temple. The elephant was named as Lakshmi. The MLA also donated Rs 2 lakh towards the expenses of maintaining the elephant.

Heggade added: “There is a tradition of taking care of elephants in Dharmasthala. We even perform ‘gaja pooja’ during Deepavali.”

Lakshmi Anand Singh, Prithviraj Singh, Madhusoodan Singh and other family members of the MLA were present. The elephant, which was brought from Assam with the permission of the Assam forest department, is 1.70 metre tall and was born on January 13, 2004.