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Jayalalitha's elephantine vow postponed

In times of political turmoil, what does a beleaguered leader do?

Pray.

And when his -- or in this case, her -- prayers are answered, what does she do?

Offer an elephant to the God who listened to her.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha Jayaram, the leader in question, had prayed to Guruvayoorappan, presiding deity of the temple town of Guruvayoor, shortly before the recent assembly elections that saw her sweep back to power at the head of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham.

Holding that she owes her electoral victory to the good auspices of the deity, she will fly down, by special aircraft, to Kochi on Sunday morning, and thence by car to the Sri Krishna Temple in Guruvayoor, to make her offering.

Jayalalitha was originally scheduled to arrive in Guruvayoor on Saturday and spend half a day in the temple. However, the arrest of DMK leader and former chief minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi and others in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday and the resulting turmoil has forced her to postpone her visit by a day.

Guruvayur Devaswom administrator K N Satheesh told rediff.com that officials of the Tamil Nadu government informed him on Friday night that there could be change in Jayalalitha's travel plans.

"She will visit the temple and offer a 12-year-old elephant at 7 am on Sunday," he said.

There is a ritual, half hour ceremony involved, before the offering is completed. This will be conducted inside the temple complex, next to the golden flag-mast.

Karunanidhi's Arrest: The Complete Coverage

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