Ahmedabad: During last year’s rath yatra, a young male elephant grabbed headlines for running amok and injuring one person. This year, organisers exercised extreme caution to make sure the procession’s stars — 18 temple elephants — literally decked to their teeth, went along undisturbed by distractions and loud noises.And that’s what happened. Bedecked in grand drapes, trunks painted in psychedelic colours, the giants ambled along on their route peacefully. DJs’ systems fell silent and cops were thoughtful not to use their whistles too much when the elephants passed.Experts said besides general health, the elephants’ temperaments were also assessed. One of the elephants walked with a chain around its front legs for some distance. The chains were then taken off. R K Sahu, adviser to the city zoo in Kankaria, was present with his team in front of the procession. “Pandals were asked not to play loud music when the elephants passed. Police too were asked to restrict use of whistles for crowd control. No untoward incident has been reported so far,” he said on Thursday evening.
