Where Elephants Receive Elaborate Spa Treatments

As per a report:

Every year a group of pampered elephants at the Punnathoor Cotta Elephant Yard Rejuvenation Centre receive elaborate spa treatments. The elephant yard is attached to the Guruvayurappan Hindu temple in Kerala, India.

The rejuvenation centre – which is attached to the famous Guruvayurappan Hindu temple – can host up to 59 elephants, and the tusked giants are happy to laze in the water while workers scrub them clean with brushes.The elephants play a key role in Kerala’s legendary temple processions and – with July considered a month of rejuvenation for humans and animals alike – these ellies are certainly not complaining.

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11-month-old Girl sent on Solo Parasailing by parents

As per one report:

Eleven-months-old Niya Nisam loud bawling did not deter her parents from sending the infant parasailing alone 50-ft up in the sky at Muzhappilangad beach here on Wednesday afternoon. Hours later, district police chief P N Unnirajan, who attended the adventure sport event, said he would register a case under the Juvenile Justice Act against the organizers.

"When I was asked to flag off (the event), I refused, saying that making a child to parasail alone is against the rules. But they said that one of the parents will accompany her. I believed them and left the place before it began," he said.

The event was organized by Malabar Aero Sports Society (MASS) a Kozhikode-based adventure sports and tourism organization. The little para-sailor is the granddaughter of Safar Ahmed, general secretary of the organization.

MASS said the event was aimed at popularizing parasailing. It claimed to have imparted "proper training" to the infant.

A senior paediatrician, however, pooh-poohed the "training" argument. "It’s not age-appropriate learning. An 11-month-old cannot learn parasailing just like that," Dr Sachidananda Kamath, state president of the Indian Academy of Paediatrics, said.

The district tourism promotion council (DTPC), the licensing authority for such events on the beach, said the event was conducted without permission. DTPC secretary Saji Varghese said that the council later received a letter from the organizers, apologizing for conducting the event without permission.

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A Temple where Chocolate is offered to God

As per a report:

In Kerala state of India there is a temple where mouth-watering chocolate bars are offered by devotees to the presiding deity. While devotees offer flowers, sandal paste and fruits to invoke divine blessing, the 'Thekkan Palani' Balasubramania temple differs as chocolate bars are offered in the sanctum sanctorum. Chocolate bars of a leading brand are made as offering by devotees and they get them back as 'prasdam' after poojas. 

 No wonder, the presiding deity of the shrine located at Subrahmanyapuram on the outskirts of the the town is known locally as "Munch Murugan." According to temple authorities, people, irrespective of caste, creed and religion, come to the shrine with cartons of chocolates, seeking the blessings of Lord Muruga. Naturally, children flock to the temple in large numbers, especially during the examination season.

No one knows for certain how or when the ritual of offering chocolate began. "The principal deity in the temple is 'Balamurugan', Lord Muruga as child. Somebody who thought that the child Muruga likes chocolate, might have begun the practice first," temple manager D Radhakrishnan told PTI. He said chocolates are given back to devotees as 'prasadam' like flowers and sandal paste after 'pushpanjali' or 'archana'. Chocolate is also used for rituals like 'thulabhara' along with other traditional articles like flowers and jaggery. 

 A large number of devotees, even those from other states and foreigners, visit the temple with boxes of chocolates. In the initial days, children were those who offered chocolates. But now, devotees of all ages, including the elderly, offer chocolates to the Lord Muruga, he said. 

The shrine, managed by a 21-member trust, was built by an ardent devotee of Lord Muruga as a family temple decades back. He was frequent pilgrim to the famous Muruga temple in Palani in Tamil Nadu. The temple lore has it that Lord Muruga once appeared in his dreams and asked him to build a shrine in his village.

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