It is reported that three people have been hospitalized due to a stampede after the violent behaviour of elephants on the first day of the Esala procession of Ruhunu Kataragama temple yesterday (06).
Sources said that a large number of people gathered to witness the inaugural occasion of the possession. According to devotees who spoke with Lankasara said that it was around 8.30 PM when one of the elephants who was walking in the procession suddenly turned back and began to run towards their sheds. Seeing that other elephants too became violent. That incident led to a stampede and several people injured.
“An Ambulance came shortly and took several people to the hospital After that, a small procession went… We were scared,” a person said.
Meanwhile, Kataragama sources said that a long-lasting dispute between the Diyawadana Nilame of Kataragama and the Kapu Mahattayas has erupted this festival season too. They said that the Diyawadana Nilame did not come eve to pay homage to Kirivehera and he refrained from participating in the Pirith chanting before the deity’s visitation. The chief kapua in charge of the thewawa of the Kataragama temple too did not come out of the shrine says the internal sources of the Perahara organizing board.
According to reports, one of the two elephants said to belong to Namal Rajapaksa is the first to behave nervously in this procession.
It is also alleged that the situation was aggravated because the wildlife veterinary team could not be coordinated timely.
