Dasara jumbos breeze through first cannon drill, newcomers get used to noise

Some elephants were calmed with sugarcane and jaggery after flinching at the cannon fire, while others like Abhimanyu and Ekalavya stood steady, unfazed by the booming shots.

Mysuru: All 14 elephants set to participate in the Mysuru Dasara Jamboo Savari—the grand finale of the celebrations—took part in the first round of the cannon firing drill, aimed at familiarising them with the high-decibel sound, at the parking lot of the Dasara Exhibition Grounds on Monday.

This annual procedure is conducted every year during Dasara to acclimatise the jumbos to the loud cannon fire. The first round of the drill was completed successfully on Monday.

The elephants were introduced to three rounds of cannon firing, with seven shots in each round.

Among the participants, Srikanta, Hemavathi and Roopa—making their debut in the festival—were startled and moved out during the first round. However, the caretakers pacified them, and they adjusted to the sound by the second and third rounds.

A total of 14 elephants and 38 horses from the Mounted Police took part in the drill. The elephants—Ekalavya, Abhimanyu, Sugreeva, Mahendra, Bheema, Kanjan, Dhananjaya, Prashantha, Gopi, Srikanta, Hemavathi, Kaveri, Roopa and Lakshmi—were made to stand in a row.

The drill began with two rounds of cracker bursts to familiarise them with loud noises. Srikanta, Roopa and Hemavathi were visibly disturbed by the sound.

As a precautionary measure, the legs of Dhananjaya, Kaveri, Hemavathi, Srikanta and Sugreeva were chained to prevent them from moving out of fear during the firing.

When the first round of cannon shots was fired, a few elephants shifted slightly due to the noise. Caretakers quickly calmed them by rubbing their trunks and legs and feeding them sugarcane and jaggery.

Elephants such as Abhimanyu, Ekalavya, Mahendra and Prashantha remained composed and did not show signs of fear when the shots were fired.

The 38 horses of the Mounted Police also participated in the drill. Some of them were nervous during the first rounds, but most adjusted to the noise by the third round.

Before the drill began, Karnataka Exhibition Authority Chairman Ayub Khan performed a puja to the elephants. CEO K Rudresh, DCPs R N Bindu Mani and K S Sundar Raju were also present.