Temple elephant takes 'rebirth' in Hubli college

HUBLI: An elephant, which served atMoorusavir Mutt here when alive, has now secured a prime space in the "temple ofeducation".The Zoology department of PC Jabin Science College here has been preserving the skeleton of the 8'4'' male elephant at its museum for the past 36 years. Displaying an elephant's skeleton for educational purpose is the first of its kind in the state, and fourth in the country.Thetemple elephant met its end in 1971. The tragic death was due to electrocution__ it went on a rampage, and smashed an electric pole on the mutt premises, onlyto die after coming in contact with a live wire. Its body was taken out in aprocession in the city before being buried at Bidnal.But when somedevotees felt that it should be kept in a museum, a team of zoologists from thecollege approached the then pontiff Jagadguru Gangadhar Rajyogindra Mahaswami ofthe mutt. Taking his permission, they exhumed the body of the pachyderm. Theteam, comprising prof C J Savanurmath, prof C J Dhaduti and students SundarPandian and Joseph Mathew, took three years to extract the bones and rejoin themto "recreate" the elephant.Speaking to `The Times of India', profSavanurmath, who is now retired, said: "We had to put in a lot of efforts toextract the bones and give it a shape. Our efforts of three years paid off. Wewanted to preserve it for study purpose..."When it was put up in themuseum in 1974, it created a sensation in the city. "There was a deluge ofvisitors from across the state to see this. There was rush for the next twoyears too," he recalled. Medical students will come here for study purpose, headded.The other elephant skeletons __ preserved in Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai __ are not as "systematic" as the one at Hubli college, he added. The skeleton has also been mentioned in `USA Journal' published by Elephant Interested Group of Weinsestate University (USA).V B Hiremath, principal of PC Jabin Science College, and Shoba Hanagandgi, head of Zoology department, said: "We have have been maintaining this skeleton for the benefit of students. Besides helping Zoology students, it is also inspiring students of other streams like Chemistry, Physics, and medicine to preserve the skeletons of pet dogs and snakes."