A camel belonging to the Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple here died last night, plunging the local devotees into grief.
The camel Shiva alias Sundareswarar, which used to be a part of the festival processions, was donated to the place of worship 10 years ago, officials said.
The animal was not well for the past few days and it died without responding to treatment, the officials said.
People and officials paid homage to the camel, which was buried with temple honours.
Apart from the camel, the temple has a cow, a bull and an elephant.