PETA, sitarist Anoushka Shankar to gift mechanical elephant to Kerala temple

The three-metre tall mechanical elephant, named Kombara Kannan, will be donated to the temple in honour of its commitment to never hire or keep real elephants, PETA India said in a statement.

Thrissur (Kerala): The non profit organisation PETA India along with renowned sitarist and 2025 Grammy nominee Anoushka Shankar will gift a life-size mechanical elephant to the Kombara Sreekrishna Swami Temple here, the NGO said on Tuesday.

The three-metre tall mechanical elephant, named Kombara Kannan, will be donated to the temple in honour of its commitment to never hire or keep real elephants, the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India said in a statement.

The 800 kilogram mechanical elephant will be unveiled at the temple on Wednesday by Satish Vimalan, Secretary of the Unnayi Variyar Memorial Kalanilayam, the statement said.

This will be the fifth mechanical elephant that PETA India is gifting to a temple in Kerala and the second in the Thrissur district.

It had also recently offered to gift a mechanical elephant for use in religious ceremonies to a mosque in Malappuram district of the state.

In its statement, PETA India said that by using mechanical elephants, real jumbos can remain with their families in the forests and "be spared the suffering of being constantly chained, controlled with weapons, and deprived of everything natural and important to them".

The mechanical elephants are made from rubber, fibre, metal, mesh, foam, and steel and run on five motors.

According to PETA India, a mechanical elephant looks, feels, and can be used like a real one.

Additionally, it can shake its head, move its ears and eyes, swish its tail, lift its trunk, even spray water, can be climbed upon, and is operated by simply plugging it in, PETA said, adding that it can be taken through the streets for rituals and processions as it is mounted on a wheelbase.