Thiruvambadi Chandrasekharan

Thiruvambadi Chandrasekharan (c. 1935— 15 May 2002) (now known as Thiruvambadi Valiya Chandrasekharan) was one of the elephants owned by the Thiruvambadi Sri Krishna Temple.[1]

In 1936, he was found in Konni forest and was taken to the palace of Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma. After spending 20 years there, Chandrasekharan was handed over to Kulappurath Neelakandappilla through Mannathu Padmanabha Pillai. He learned about the rituals from Neelakandappilla and was bought by Bhaskaramenon in 1973 from Thrissur. Later, the Thiruvambadi Sri Krishna Temple acquired Chandrasekharan's possession. He carried the Thidambu of Thiruvambady Bhagavathy from continuously from 1974 to 2002 except one year. During a festival in 1999, Chandrasekharan was severely injured due to an attack from another elephant Thechikkottukavu Ramachandran. Ramachandran stabbed Chandrashekharan's stomach with its tusks when they were walking together, side by side.[2] Around the age of 80, Chandrasekharan died on 15 May 2002. He was one among the few captive elephants to have lived for almost 80 years. Thiruvambadi Chandrasekharan later came to be known as Thiruvambadi Valiya Chandrasekharan after he was succeeded by Thiruvambadi Cheriya Chandrasekharan.[3][4]