THIRUVANANTHAPURAM (India): India's famed elephant parades must stop because they are cruel to the animals, says a Hindu group which has scrapped the practice for the coming festival season.

The Sivagiri Mutt or spiritual institution, which controls 30 temples in the palm-fringed coastal state of Kerala, said on Wednesday it would no longer use elephants during the popular festivals.

“Our guru, Sree Narayana Guru, has taught us not to inflict pain even on an ant so disciples of the guru have the responsibility to follow his philosophy,” Swami Prakashananda, head of the mutt, told newsmen. Sree Narayana Guru was a Hindu reformer and social revolutionary. Prakashananda was speaking by telephone from the Hindu group's headquarters in the tourist town of Varkala, 40 kilometres north of Thiruvananthapuram, capital city of Kerala.

Veterinary officials say the elephants, which are decorated with heavy ornaments and large idols, get upset because of the big crowds which attend the festivals and the long hours that they must spend under the scorching sun.

The elephants often run amok, trampling people.

In Kerala, 40 elephant handlers or mahouts and 45 onlookers died in 2006 and 15 mahouts and six members of the public have been killed already this year, forestry department veterinary surgeon Easwaran Namboothiri said.

K. Venkitachalam, president of the Elephant Lover's Association based in Thrissur, a temple town in Kerala, welcomed the decision by the Sivagiri Mutt not to parade elephants during festivals.

“It's good sign that more and more people are realizing the injustice done to elephants,” Venkitachalam said.—AFP