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A monkey, which made a Hanuman temple in a small village its abode for 30 days, died of starvation on Saturday after devotees resisted attempts by a team of veterinarians to shift it out for treatment.
The temple committee performed the last rites of the monkey on Saturday evening even as thousands of devotees, who considered it an incarnation of the deity, attended the funeral.
The monkey, which had strayed into the sanctum sanctorum of the temple at Thimmannagaripally in Lepaskhi block of Anantapur district, was found sitting atop the idol on August 1.
Since then, a large number of devotees had been thronging the temple to offer garlands and fruits to the monkey and seek its blessings and forgiveness. But the monkey stopped eating after a few days and its health deteriorated.
Subsequently, Karuna, a voluntary organization, approached the Andhra Pradesh high court seeking a direction to the state government to provide medical care to the trapped monkey.
Following the court's intervention, two veterinarians conducted a check-up on the monkey on Friday. But the devotees prevented them from shifting the simian to another place for treatment. A day later, the monkey died.
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