Grandeur of tableaux leaves audience spellbound

The audience were left spellbound as this year too, folk troupes and tableaux, an integral part of the world famous Jamboo Savari, enthralled with their variety and grandeur.

While more than 25,000 people watched the world famous procession inside the Palace premises, lakhs thronged the procession route, which begins from the Palace and ends at Bannimantap Grounds, where the torchlight parade was held in the evening.

In all, 43 tableaux, representing 30 Zilla Panchayat and 60 troupes, were part of the procession. Around 1,500 folk artistes enthralled the crowd all along the route.
The scorching heat did not dampen the spirit and enthusiasm of the crowd, who had gathered at around 11 am to watch the procession which was to be held five hours later. Interestingly, most of them were seen capturing the procession on their mobile phones, rather than watching it so as to upload it on social media. Forty two tableaux were part of the procession. The first tableau was from Bagalkot district displaying the replicas of Koodalasangama with social reformer Basavanna. However, the tableau of National Cadet Corps (NCC) showcased their rescue and relief operations during the natural disaster that struck Kodagu recently. Similarly, the tableau showcasing adventure sports activities with trekking, parachute jumping and river rafting too received good response. The tableau representing Bengaluru city highlighted the solid waste management right from segregation, collection and disposal. The Golgumbaz of Vijayapura, Tungabhadra dam of Ballari district, Anubhava Mantap, Basavakalyana of Bidar, Gopalaswamy Hill by Chamarajanagar district, Reviving trees of Gadag, Airport at Kalaburagi, Sculptures of Hoysala and Belur of Hassan district, Krishnaraja Sagar dam of Mandya district, were done attractively.

The tableau of Higher Education Department showcased the importance of universities and the replica of a palm holding a book, was complete with a message by Higher Education Department and District-in-charge Minister G T Devegowda on the LED screen.

The Kannada and Culture Department’s tableau Karnataka Navarathnagalu, was well designed and attractive with the replicas of Kuvempu, actor Rajkumar, S Nijalingappa, C N R Rao, Dr Devi Shetty and Bheemsen Joshi on the tableau. The tableau of Information Department highlighted the various government schemes.

The folk troupes from across the state stole the show and youths and children had an opportunity to know the existing forms of folk art that are slowly vanishing. The energy and the enthusiasm of the artistes stayed intact up to Bannimantap, where the procession culminated.