Aandal and Akila are together most of the time. Lakshmi steals attention with her harmonica skills. Masini is just nine, and the visitors adore her. At the rejuvenation camp being at Thekkampatti on the banks of the Bhavani in the foothills of the Nilgiris from January 4, 26 elephants from temples and five from maths in Tamil Nadu and two guests from Puducherry laze around all day. Aandal from the Sri Ranganathaswamy temple in Sri Rangam, Akila from the Thiruvanaikaval temple, Lakshmi from the Irattai Tirupati temple in Thoothukudi, Masini from the Samayapuram temple in Tiruchirapalli and their ilk have earned Thekkampatti a place on the tour map of visitors to the Nilgiris and devotees coming to the nearby Vanabadrakali Amman temple, near Mettupalayam, in Coimbatore.
Sugar cane, fruits, jaggery and other nutritious food are served at the camp. A panel of veterinarians decide the diet chart, quantum of food, medicines, vitamin and mineral supplements and mixtures to be given to each elephant based on its sex, age and weight. Seven teams from the Animal Husbandry Department monitor their health and a health card is kept. The mahouts are counselled on how to handle the gentle giants and their mood swings.
The elephants enjoy bathing in the Bhavani and are made to take brisk walks in the mornings and evenings. To keep their wild cousins at bay, a solar and battery-powered fence, watchtowers and focus lights have been put up. Fifty watchers have been posted. The State-sponsored camp will go on till February 20. The outlay is ₹1.5 crore. This is the 10th such camp, a pet project of the former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.