Overview
- An ANI video published Tuesday showed 76‑year‑old Malathi travelling to six locations around Tirupparankundram each Saturday to feed monkeys, a routine that drew national coverage.
- She began the effort around 2015 after noticing growing monkey numbers near the Tirupparankundram Murugan Temple and has funded the work from part of her pension for nearly a decade.
- Because of age and health limits she reduced daily visits to a weekly schedule but still reports about 350 to 400 monkeys gather across sites such as the Cave Temple and Peacock Grove.
- Malathi says the work gives her joy and purpose and she intends to continue as long as she is physically able.
- News coverage noted, without detailed study, that long‑term feeding can create strong behavioural ties and higher local concentrations of monkeys that may pose management and ecological challenges for temple communities.