Robot elephants offered to Indian temples as alternatives to live animals

The animal rights organization Peta, along with other non-profit organizations, has donated the elephants to several temples. The idea is that they will replace real elephants, which, according to Peta, are subjected to stress and are chained in the heat. But there is also criticism from those who believe that live elephants are part of temple rituals and that they are sacred.

Mechanical engineer Prasanth Prakashan knows his elephants are far from the real thing.

But we try to capture the essence of the majestic animal as best we can, he says.