Seventeen-year-old Anant Ambani, who is the son of top industrialist Mukesh Ambani, is likely to gift a white elephant to Lord Sri Venkateshwara Swamy in Tirumala.

The sources said that Anant Ambani liked the temple elephants Jyothi and Padmavathi. He reportedly visited goshala and was curious about the upkeep of of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam’s medical facilities to holy cows at goshala.

The reports even indicated that Anant Ambani came to know about the animal donation ritual at Tirumala temple and showed interest to donate a white cow. He was also said to have told the temple chief priest Ramana Dixithulu that the white elephant would be imported from southeast Asia as white elephants are reportedly found more in that area. It may be noted that white elephants would not be completely snow white as depicted in mythologies. In fact, such white elephants would actually have soft brownish-red colour and turns pink in water. They are called as albinos. These albinos have fair eye-lashes and toenails.

Earlier, VIPs offered elephants at Tirumala. Deve Gowda in 1996 donated an elephant when he became the prime minister. Even Karnataka government donated one elephant in 1999 and Jayalalitha too donated an elephant for the 1991 when she became the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the first time. Currently TTD is having six elephants.

We have to wait and see as to when Anant Ambani is going to gift the white elephant to TTD.   (Phani)