Gajapayana, first leg of Dasara, held in Mysuru

Dasara elephants, being welcomed at Aranya Bhavan, office complex of the Forest department, at Ashokapuram, in Mysuru. DH Photo

Gajapayana, the first leg of Mysuru Dasara, also dubbed as ‘Mini Dasara’, indicating at Jamboo Savari, was held at Veeranahosahalli, under Nagarahole Reserve Forest, Hunsur taluk, Mysuru district, from 9.30 am to 10.15 am, during the auspicious Tula lagna, on Monday.

Elephants Abhimanyu, 56, and Gopalswamy, 38, from Mathigodu camp; Ashwathama, 34, from Doddaharave camp; Dhanajaya, 43, and Kaveri, 44, from Dubare camp; and Chaitra, 48, and Lakshmi, 20, from Rampura camp; were offered puja by dignitaries under the guidance of priest S V Prahallada Rao and his team.

Golden howdah

Abhimanyu is slated to carry the famed golden howdah, in which an idol of Goddess Sri Chamundeshwari, described as Nada Devathe, will be taken out in a procession, in the famous Jamboo Savari, restricted to Mysuru Palace premises, in the wake of the Covid crisis, for the second consecutive year.

MP Prathap Simha, MLA H P Manjunath, Mayor Sunanda Palanetra, Deputy Commissioner Bagadi Gautam, Superintendent of Police R Chetan, Zilla Panchayat CEO A M Yogeesh and Deputy Conservators of Forest V Karikalan and Kamal Karikalan were present. They invited a total of 24 caretakers of the elephants to come to Mysuru, to participate in Dasara, to make it a success.

Compared to last year, the presence of people, including families of government officials, was more. The Gajapayana was held under cool climatic conditions. It had rained just before the start of the Gajapayana.

Aranya Bhavan stay

Vikrama, 58, reached Mysuru directly from Dubare camp in Kodagu district.

All elephants reached Aranya Bhavan, the office complex in Mysuru, by evening, along with their caretakers, including mahouts and kaavadis.

They will be welcomed at Mysuru Palace on September 16. Arrangements have been made on the premises of the Mysuru Palace, to house the elephants and their caretakers. They will shortly start rehearsals for the Jamboo Savari. They will be fed with a special diet to make them fit for the procession.

It has to be noted that the celebrations of Dasara, scheduled to be held from October 7 to 15, have been scaled down due to the Covid crisis.

Covid effect

Last year, only five elephants took part in Dasara and its grand finale, the Jamboo Savari, due to the same Covid crisis.

In normal years, the families of the elephant caretakers used to accompany them. However, since last year only caretakers are accompanying the elephants.

Gajapayana was in practice during the time of the erstwhile Wadiyar kings. The Wadiyar kings used to visit the forests and extend invitations to the caretakers of the elephants to participate in Dasara. The Wadiyars kings used to offer puja at Anjaneya temple before Gajapayana, said a priest of the temple. But, it was discontinued later.

However, the event resumed in 1998 at Nagapura tribal rehabilitation centre, near Veeranahosahalli, with the efforts of the then district-in-charge minister A H Vishwanath. In 2018, the event returned to its old venue, Veeranahosahalli.

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