Tirunelveli Nov. 14. As many as nine elephants from places of worship in Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Kanyakumari districts were today put in trucks, which headed for Mudumalai for a month-long health camp starting on Sunday. Gopalan from the Sthaanumaalayan temple, Suseendram in Kanyakumari district; Shanthi of the Subramaniya Swamy temple, Tiruchendur; Aathinaayagi of the Aathinaatha Azhwar Swamy temple; Kumuthavalli of the Vaithamaanithi Perumal temple, Thirukkoloor; Lakshmi of Rettaithiruppathi; Gomathi of the Sankaranarayanar temple, Sankarankoil, Gandhimathi of the Nellaiyappar temple, Tirunelveli; Valli of the Azhagiyanambi temple, Tirukkurungudi and Jaini of the Magdoom Gnaniyar mosque, Kadayanallur were loaded in vehicles.

While an elephant from the Syed Sirajudeen Chera Mudaliyar dargah at Kulasekarapattinam refused to step into the truck, Shyamala of the Mayakooththar temple at Perungulam in Tuticorin district had to be dropped from the team, after it suffered a paralytic attack. An elephant brought up by Vallanaadu Swamigal joined other members in Madurai. Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment officials and mahouts struggled for five hours with Gandhimathi, who refused to step into a lorry, parked close to a platform near the central prison. They lured the animal with sugarcane, oilcakes, cookies, bananas, green fodder and groundnut sweets, but the elephant refused to come anywhere near the vehicle. Amid sharp showers, the mahouts tied a rope around the legs. While one of them sat atop the animal and goaded her, others pulled the rope, resulting in bleeding injuries in the legs. Others kept beating the elephant for over two hours. As Gandhimathi remained stubborn, the mahouts took her to the Electricity Board campus at Maharaja Nagar, where she boarded a truck without making any fuss. First arrival Our Udhagamandalam Staff Reporter reports: Thirteen-year-old Kalyani of Perur temple near Coimbatore was the first to enter the district with her mahout and kavadi. A pooja was performed at the Mariamman temple near Kottacombai on the Mettupalayam-Kotagiri highway. After it was fed and certified by veterinarians that it was in good health, she was allowed to continue its journey to Theppakkadu.