Temple priest hands over bird to owner

Mysore/Mysuru: The Kodagu region, especially Bhagamandala and Talacauvery, has been experiencing continuous rainfall for the past week or so. Amidst this, a rare pigeon made an appearance at the Sri Bhagandeshwara Swamy Temple at Bhagamandala five days ago.

The Temple’s chief priest Harish Bhatt and staff noticed the pigeon, which stayed away from the other pigeons at the temple complex. They took care of it, providing water and grains regularly. Upon closer inspection, they observed a metal ring on the pigeon’s right leg, inscribed with the owner’s name and mobile number.

Harish Bhatt then contacted the mobile number belonging to Sreejith and found out that the pigeon had strayed from its home in Thaliparamba in Kerala and travelled 107.1 km to reach Bhagamandala.

Sreejith told Harish Bhatt that his trained pigeon, named ‘Parijatham’, had been missing for the past nine days. It had gone missing while it was with other pigeons.

On July 18, Sreejith visited the Sri Bhagandeshwara Swamy Temple, expressed his gratitude to the temple priests and staff, and took his ‘Parijatham’ back home. Thanks to the phone number inscribed on the ring fitted into the pigeon’s leg, the bird was able to return to its home.