Mysuru: Dasara Elephants ready for Jumbo Savari procession after 50 days practice

Mysuru: As the countdown begins for Mysuru Dasara Jamboo Savari procession, after rigorous training for 50 days the Dasara elephants participated in the final round of rehearsals in front of the Mysuru Palace, along with a company of Mounted (horse) Police, on Tuesday.

Flanked by Roopa and Cauvery, 59-year old Abhimanyu, who will carry the golden howdah, weighing 750 kg on Vijayadashami, Thursday, marched majestically before the podium in front of Mysuru Palace (from where Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will offer floral benediction to the idol of Goddess Sri Chamundeshwari Devi housed in the howdah, on Thursday).

During the rehearsal Mysuru City Police Commissioner Seema Latkar, Conservator of Forest S S Ravishankar, and DCF I B Prabhu Gowda offered floral benediction. Abhimanyu lifted his trunk with grace. A team of 40 members of the police band, led by Praveen and B Manjunath, played the National Anthem. Cannon shots were fired from seven brass barrels from a distance of over 700 metres. The elephants stayed calm and composed.

The elephants were accompanied by a company of Mounted Police, with 15 horses, led by parade commander, ACP of CAR Bengaluru South, Adugodi, K N Suresha with his horse King's Power and second in command, RPO S D Sasanoor with his horse Janasikva. Abhimanyu marched to the tunes of the Police band.

Earlier, Dhananjaya proceeded as Nishaane elephant (in the forefront of the procession), Gopi as Nauphath elephant, Mahendra, Srikanta, Lakshmi, Kanjan, Bheema Ekalavya, Prashantha, Sugreeva, and Hemavathi joined as saalaanes.

CF Ravishankar said that the elephants are healthy and the team is all set for the finale. "People should stay calm, cooperate and avoid distracting the elephants during the procession," he said.

Professional anchors B C Banumathi and Dhananjaya, who will make announcements near the Palace, participated in the rehearsal.

RFO Syed Nadeem, ACP, CAR, A Maruthi, ACP Palace Board H M Chandrashekar, DCPs R N Bindu Mani, and K S Sundar Raj participated in the rehearsal.

Training

The first batch of Dasara elephants - Abhimanyu, Lakshmi, Kaveri, Bheema, Mahendra, Ekalavya, Prashantha, Dhananjaya, and Kanjan - arrived at Aranya Bhavan in Mysuru after the Gajapayana on August 4. They were shifted to Mysuru Palace on August 10. Their weight was checked on August 11. Their training began on August 12 and they were familiarsied with the procession route from the Palace to Bannimantapa, crowd, and lights, as it would be dusk by the time they return to Palace.

The second batch of Dasara elephants - Srikanta, Roopa, Hemavathi, Gopi, and Sugreeva - arrived on August 24. Abhimanyu, Mahendra, Dhananjaya, Ekalavya and Bheema were trained to carry weight from September 3 to 12. Along with five male elephants, Sugreeva and Prashantha were trained to carry the wooden howdah from September 15 to 27. They are familiarised with cannon fire shots, fired from seven brass barrels, thrice from September 15 to 23.

At Srirangpatna Dasara, Mahendra carried the howdah, while Lakshmi and Kaveri accompanied as kumki on September 25. Srikanta is participating as Pattada Aane and Ekalavya as Nishaane Aane for the private Dasara rituals of the erstwhile royal family. They are being fed with special nutritious food to get stamina for the finale. Three elephants - Srikanta, Roopa and Hemavathi - are participating in the procession for the first time.