The 68-year-old pachyderm called Nadugamuwa Raja held a central place in the country’s Buddhist tradition. He even had an elite unit to protect him. The authorities pay tribute to him.
With our regional correspondent, Sebastien Farcis
Nadugamuwa Raja was more than an elephant in Sri Lanka. For fifteen years, he had been the leader of a herd of 100 pachyderms that paraded during an important festival in the city of Kandy, in the center of the island. Each year, this elephant with long tusks thus transported, from the top of its 3.20 meters, important Buddhist relics. In 2015, he was almost hit by a vehicle and has since had an armed escort to protect him.
This Monday, March 7, priests and schoolchildren came to pray in front of his remains, and to touch his ivory tusks, a symbol of his sacred power. Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a militant Buddhist, has decreed that the animal will be declared a “national treasure” and ordered that its remains be stuffed for future generations to see.
Now we have to find his successor. A delicate mission. The elephant must indeed be very large; its tail, trunk, and penis should touch the ground when standing, and its tusks should have the rounded shape of the traditional fan.