Pānātipātā veramanī, sikkhāpadan samādiyāmi.
(I undertake to observe the precept to abstain from killing living beings, or carrying out an action that will result in the death of a being.)
Tikiri could have heard the first of Buddhism’s five precepts a countless times, be it at her bearer’s home or at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy where she was to parade for thousands of spectators in Sri Lanka’s biggest cultural and tourist event - the annual Kandy Perahera.
The giant jumbo made into local and foreign news when photographs of her 70-year-old frail body were shared on social media sites leading to a global outcry. In August, Save Elephant Foundation (SEF), a Thai-based non-profit organization set up to protect elephants, exposed Tikiri’s state on its Facebook page.
In its post SEF questioned, “For a ceremony, all have the right to belief as long as that belief does not disturb or harm another. How can we call this a blessing, or something holy, if we make other lives suffer?”
The post soon led to pulling Tikiri from the pageant amidst a public debate if elephants and tuskers should be engaged in these annual ceremonies and tourist events. The Sunday Observer reported about the dialog built around the deteriorating she-elephant in its article ‘When will the Animal Welfare Act be passed?: Owners are paid for parading their elephants’ on Aug 18 and followed up with ‘Stampeding elephants: Tales of hidden cruelty’ on Sept 15.
The heat created around Tikiri’s plight paid off. Minister of Tourism Development, Wildlife and Christian Religious Affairs, John Amaratunga even called for an investigation into why she was made to walk in the annual parade.
With her removal from the pageant Tikiri received the attention she needed. She could have rested at least during her last days on earth. Last week she died.
Founder of SEF, Lek Chailert, took to Instagram to announce the death on Tuesday (24). “What we wished for Tikiri, even a few days of freedom with love and care, we will demand for others,” she said.
“The day that I met Tikiri, her eyes locked with mine, telling me all that I needed to know. Her own fear and anger and sorrow is now part of that longer memory of her kind which should bear us no affection,” she goes on to say adding “Tikiri’s suffering has ended, her soul is now free. No more harm can come to her. RIP dear Tikiri. Never look back to this world so cruel toward you and your friends.”