Temples in India receive robotic elephants as some replace live animals in rituals

South China Morning Post reported that life-size robotic elephants have been donated to Hindu temples in India to replace live animals used in rituals. The devices, built from fibreglass, iron and rubber, include ears that flap, tails that swish and trunks that squirt water. Electric motors move the head and eyeballs, while body parts are made pliable to appear lifelike.

Peta and other non-profits have provided about 40 of the robots to temples. Each one costs about US$6,000. Prasanth Prakashan, a mechanical engineer who holds a degree in the field, constructs the elephants in his backyard workshop in Chalakudy, Kerala.

He has acknowledged that the machines fall short of the fluid movement of real elephants. The shift has drawn support from animal welfare groups while facing resistance from those who view live elephants as central to temple festivals.