Captive elephants of temples of India

Temples have a long history and tradition of keeping elephants. Some temples keep elephants as they have a significance associated with a specific deity. However, the
actual time when temples started associating themselves with elephants is not very clear. Interestingly, the actual reasons for which elephants are kept in temples need to
be critically reviewed. The review is important, whatever the reasons, as it could define actual welfare status.