Jumbos begin Dasara rehearsal

 Dasara elephants, led by howdah carrier Arjuna, started training for Jamboo Savari, on Saturday.

The eight elephants - including Bheema, Balarama, Abhimanyu, Kaveri, Varalakshmi and Vijaya successfully marched from the Mysuru Palace premises, where they are camping, to Bannimantap, covering a distance of 4 km. The elephants took almost an hour to complete the stretch.

The elephants walked via KR Circle, Sayyaji Rao Road, Ayurveda Hospital Circle and Highway Circle to reach Bannimantap grounds. Veterinarian Dr Nagaraj, who is taking care of the Dasara elephants, said all the jumbos are doing well and are physically fit.

The elephants are yet to get accustomed to the Mysuru environment and traffic noise, he said. Arjuna did not move further when he reached Sayyaji Rao Road, but his mahout managed to take him forward.

The second batch, comprising seven elephants — Gopalaswamy, Vikram, Gopi, Harsha, Krishna, Drona and Prashanth — will join the first batch soon. Deputy Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) V Yedukondalu said, from next week, the weight training will begin. Sacks of sand will be loaded on to the howdah carrier and the standby jumbo during the daily drill. The weight will be gradually increased up to 750 kg, the weight of the golden howdah.