S'patna Dasara kicks off

30 cultural troupes, elephant Abhimanyu steals the show

 
Deputy Commissioner Dr P C Jaffer inaugurated the five-day event at the historic Kiranguru Bannimantapa. An idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari was carried in a specially designed mantap, a look-alike of golden howdah carried by Dasara elephant Abhimanyu in a procession. More than 30 folk and cultural troupes accompanied the procession adding excitement and entertainment to the people. Thousands of people witnessed the procession across the town, even as hundreds of devotees joined the rally.

And, the Dasara elephants of Mysore - Abhimanyu, Mary and Sarala - were specially summoned for the Dasara procession. For the residents of the temple town it was an occasion that the town hosted after centuries.Srirangapatna hosted the Dasara celebration before  when the Raja Narasaraja Wadiyar, the forefathers of the Wadiyar family ruled Mysore and had made Srirangapatna as their capital.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Puttamadaiah, Assistant Commissioner G Prabhu, tahasildar Arul Kumar, former MLA Vijayalakshmi Bandisidde Gowda offered pooja to the Goddess before the procession.

The procession, which began at around 3.45 pm, passed through the Mosque road and joined the Mysore- Bangalore road. The rally covered about three kilometres to reach the Srirangapatna temple around 6.30 pm. 

Absence

Following the BJP Government’s trust vote at the Assembly, the local MLAs and other elected representatives kept away from the procession. Home and District Incharge Minister R Ashok was supposed to inaugurate the procession. Srirangapatna Dasara will provide a cultural treat until October 14.