Amid rains, special pooja was offered to all 9 Dasara elephants on the occasion of Ganesha Chaturthi at Mysuru Palace premises at the auspicious Abhijin lagna at 12.47pm on Monday. Led by Abhimanyu other male elephants Arjuna, Dhananjaya, Bheema, Mahendra, Gopi, Kanjan and female elephants Vijaya, Varalakshmi lined up for pooja. They were fed sugarcane, jaggery, fruits and eatables like Karigadabu, Kodubale among others.
Deputy Conservator of Forest, wildlife division, Mysuru Saurabh Kumar, DCF, Mysuru division (territory) K N Basavaraj, RFO Santhosh Hoogar, Chief Veterinary officer, Mujeeb Ur Rehman and others offered floral obeisance to the pachyderms. Pejawar Mutt seer Vishwa Prasanna Theertha Swamy, Mysuru Palace Board Deputy Director T S Subramanya, Mysuru Palace Board ACP H M Chandrashekar joined them.
DCF Saurab who is also in-charge of Dasara elephants, said that they have offered pooja to elephants on the occasion of Ganesh Chathurthi like every year. They have prayed for good rains and prosperity of people. Priest Prahlad Rao offered pooja to the pachyderms.
On the festive occasion, the pachyderms were given break from acclimatisation exercise for Vijayadashami procession Dasara Jamboo Savari procession route on Monday.
All nine elephants arrived at Aranya Bhavan premises in Mysuru on September 1, after the grand Gajapayana event at Veeranahosalli in Hunsur taluk, Mysuru district. They were shifted to Mysuru Palace premises, after another grand event to welcome them, on September 5.
The acclimatisation exercise to familiarise them with Dasara Jamboo Savari procession route for Vijayadashami began on September 7. Abhimanyu, Gopi, Dhananjaya, Mahendra, Bheema are being trained from September 15 to carry weight, to acclimatise them to carry 750 kg golden howdah during Dasara Jamboo Savari procession. The second batch of another five elephants will arrive on September 25.
Published 18 September 2023, 09:49 IST