Sr'patna Dasara: Howdah tilts during Jamboo Savari

Poor management of the show by authorities, alleged

 The Jamboo Savari, procession of the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari, mounted on elephant Abhimanyu in a howdah, here, on Monday gave tense moments to the organisers, due to poor management.

The 150-kg wooden howdah started tilting towards the left of the elephant at Bannimantap, on the outskirts of the town at Kirangur Circle, itself. By the time the elephant arrived at the Municipality Circle in the town, it was on the verge of falling. All efforts of the mahouts to balance the howdah, even with the help of accompanying elephants, failed.

So, the procession was halted, the howdah re-mounted. Again, the howdah started tilting. Somehow, the authorities concerned managed to reach the procession to Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple and heaved a sigh of relief.

On the way, near the bridge across River Cauvery, the welcome arch posed a hurdle for the Jamboo Savari. The position of the howdah was a bit higher than the arch. So, the elephant was moved off the road, to the footpath, where the ground was lower, to cross the arch.

Informal launch

People’s representatives seemed to be in a hurry to flag off the Jamboo Savari. Melkote MLA K S Puttannaiah was the first to offer flowers to the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari, followed by MP Ramya and Housing Minister M H Ambareesh.

Formality

Puttaniah even gestured to the mahout to move, when somebody pointed out that centenarian lexicographer G Venkatasubbaiah, who was supposed to formally launch the procession, was not on the dais.

Later, Venkatasubbaiah was given way to climb up the 20-foot tall dais and allowed to fulfil the formality.