Over 50 Veterinarians Urge Immediate Rehabilitation of Assam’s Elephant Joymala (Jeymalyatha) Kept Illegally by Tamil Temple
After reviewing videos and other documentation about her plight, over 50 veterinarians from different parts of the country have signed an opinion, which will be sent to various concerned authorities in Assam and Tamil Nadu by PETA India urging that the abused female elephant from Assam named ‘Joymala’ known as ‘Jeymalyatha’ in Tamil Nadu, be sent to a sanctuary immediately where she can live unchained, without weapons, and in the company of other elephants. Via the opinion, the veterinarians deemed Joymala aged approximately 22 years, and currently under the illegal private custody of Arulmigu Nachiyar (Andal) Temple at Srivilliputhur, Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu, as potentially dangerous, having long suffered mentally and physically.
Since 2021, the media has reported on numerous instances in which Joymala was severely beaten by different mahouts, leading Assam to demand her return. And a PETA India 2022 inspection at the Krishnan Kovil temple, where Joymala is kept, revealed that the cruelty to the elephant is so routine that her mahout used pliers to painfully twist her skin to control her even in front of PETA India inspectors.
Joymala has apparently been in the illegal custody of the Arulmigu Nachiyar (Andal) Temple at Srivilliputhur in Tamil Nadu for about a decade. The Assam government had moved the Gauhati High Court in September 2022 to get Joymala released as she was only temporarily leased out from Assam to the Tamil Nadu temple in 2011 and has been under the temple’s custody even after the lapse of the lease period. Following an application filed by PETA India urging that the decision regarding Joymala’s custody be made with her best interests in mind, the Gauhati High Court allowed PETA India to intervene in this case.
PETA India has also cautioned that Joymala’s ongoing abuse and poor treatment would make her extremely unpredictable, putting her mahouts and devotees’ lives at absolute risk. Frustrated elephants attacking their mahouts, devotees, tourists, or others around them is common. Within the first two months of 2025, twelve captive elephants in Kerala used for processions and festivals have become upset and killed six people on eleven different occasions, injured several others or damaged property. A few months ago, an elephant named Deivanai killed a mahout and his friend at the Arulmigu Subramania Swamy Temple, Tiruchendur, Tamil Nadu.
PETA India advocates for all venues and events currently using elephants to switch to lifelike mechanical elephants or other means in place of real elephants. Today, at least fifteen mechanical elephants are used in temples across south India, of which PETA India was involved with donating nine in recognition of the temples’ decisions to never own or hire live elephants. These mechanical elephants are now used to conduct ceremonies at their temples in a safe and cruelty-free manner, helping real elephants stay with their families in the jungle.
