KUALA LUMPUR, March 1 — Meet Irinjadappilly Raman, the mechanical elephant.

Standing at 11ft tall (3.3m) with flapping ears, he looks impressively life-like, and for good reason.

He’s now helping priests perform rituals at a temple in the southern Indian state of Kerala.

This break from tradition by the Irinjadappilly Sree Krishna Temple in Thrissur is part of their pledge to stop using live animals for any festivities.

Temple priest Rajkumar Namboothiri said they were happy to receive the mechanical elephant.

“We hope other temples will also think about replacing elephants with robotic elephants for their rituals,” he said in an interview with Indian Express.

The model was donated by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India and actress Parvathy Thiruvothu.

They hoped this would help in holding events “in a cruelty-free manner”.

Chained, saddled and decorated, elephants play an important part in temple festivals in Kerala.

The state is home to about a fifth of the country’s roughly 2,500 captive elephants.

Captive elephants are often chained, beaten and isolated.

For years, animal welfare activists have flagged concerns about their treatment, the BBC News reported.

The Centre for Research on Animal Rights last week wrote to the state’s chief minister about the increased mortality of the mammal, saying 138 captive elephants had died in Kerala between 2018 and 2023.

In a statement issued on Monday, PETA said subjecting live elephants to extreme loud noises during festivals was cruel and urged all temples in the state to switch to lifelike mechanical elephants.

“It's high time we made stronger and more impactful strides towards stopping such abuse and letting animals have respectful and dignified lives.”