Dasara elephants get familiar with cannon firing

Dasara elephants, which are camping on the Mysuru Palace premises, were familiarised with the sound of cannons here on Friday. Eleven elephants, led by Arjuna, participated in the session and performed well.

Except Dhananjaya -- all other 10 elephants, Arjuna, Balarama, Vijaya, Kaveri, Gopi, Durgaparameshwari and first time participants Eshwara, Lakshmi and Jayaprakash — were calm. In addition, 25 horses, attached to the Mounted Police, also participated in the session.

Abhimanyu and Vijayalakshmi were absent for the session. Abhimanyu is attending a tiger rescue operation at Kundakere Forest, Gundlupet taluk, Chamarajanagar district, while Varalakshmi is in her early pregnancy stage.

The cannon firing practice session was held outside the palace and cannons were fired 21 times. Six cannons were used for the session. Additional Director General of Police (Law & Order) Amar Kumar Pandey and City Police Commissioner K T Balakrishna supervised the cannon firing.

The commissioner said, “The performance of the elephants was good and another two sessions of practice will be organised to familiarise them with the sound of cannon firing. An additional session would be organised, if needed.”

Deputy Conservator of Forests Alexander said, “Dhananjaya was a little nervous while all other elephants performed well. Dhananjaya will be familarised in another two rounds.”

The DCF said that the first time participant Eshwara, who was a little nervous during the procession rehearsals, is adjusting to the city, crowd and sounds.

It may be mentioned that Eshwara had turned restless twice during the rehearsal. It had also fought with its teammate Dhananjaya on the Palace premises once.

30 personnel train

A team of 30 personnel, attached to the City Armed Reserve (CAR), performed the cannon firing. According to the authorities, a total of 45 kg of gun power was used to fire 21 rounds and the quantity of the powder will be increased in the next sessions.

The firing of 21 rounds of cannon shots, will be performed before the commencement of the Jamboo Savari, on the day of Vijayadashami, the final leg of Dasara, on October 8.