Chengalloor Dakshayani (c.1930 – 5 February 2019) was a female Asian elephant owned by Travancore Devaswom Board and kept at the Chenkalloor Mahadeva Temple in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, India, which at the time of her death on 5 February 2019 was believed to be the oldest elephant in captivity in Asia.
The Travancore royal family bought the elephant calf at Kodanad elephant camp, near Ernakulam, and donated her to their Thiruvarattu Kavu temple at Attingal in 1949,[1] when she was 19 years old;[2][3] she was transferred to the Chenkalloor Mahadeva Temple in the late 1960s.
[7][8][9] The Universal Records Forum, based in Kolkata, certified her as the oldest elephant in captivity;[10] by some accounts she was certified the record holder by Guinness and a postal cover was issued to celebrate the event.
[12] Chengalloor Dakshayani was still participating in temple rituals in 2017, but her parading was restricted after 2015.
[13] In her last years she had trouble moving and her food was supplemented by hand feeding of pineapples and carrots.