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Ceremonial tusker · Dalada Maligawa

Raju

රාජු ராஜு

Raju
Sumudusoyza007 · CC BY-SA 4.0
A photo of a Sri Lankan Elephant — not this animal

A tusker born on 3 February 2006 at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage to Neelagiri and Punchi. He was given to the Sri Dalada Maligawa by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2009, and in 2014 he was being trained to one day carry the sacred casket in the Randoli Perahera; he was said to closely resemble the famous Maligawa Raja.

Sources

  1. Raju has unique resemblance to Maligawa Raja — Sunday Observer, 3 Aug 2014
  2. Pulasthi Raja gets a royal welcome — Daily FT, 16 Sep 2017