Rousing reception for royal guests at Mysuru palace

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The first batch of six Dasara elephants, led by Arjuna, reached the Mysuru Palace on Monday. The Mysuru Palace Board and the district administration received the elephants with traditional honours.

The elephants will camp on the Palace premises till the conclusion of the Dasara. The festival commences on September 29 and concludes with the Vijayadashami procession or Jamboo Savari on October 8.

Six elephants, Arjuna, Abhimanyu, Varalakshmi, Eshwara, Dhananjaya and Vijaya, which arrived in the city on August 22, were extended a warm and traditional welcome at Jayamarthanda Gate of Mysuru Palace. They were brought under the ceremonial Gajapayana from the Veeranahosalli forest on August 22.

Priests, led by cN Shashishekar Dixit of Chamundeshwari temple, offered puja at the auspicious 'Abhijin' lagna. Later, the police offered the guard of honour to the jumbos. Folk artistes performed during the ceremony.

The six jumbos were housed at Aranya Bhavan in the city before their arrival at the Palace. Another batch of eight jumbos — Balarama, Vikrama, Kaveri, Gopi, Durgaparameshwari, Jayaprakash, Lakshmi and Rohith, will join the first batch soon. According to Forest department officials, a total of 14 elephants will be trained for Dasara procession and 12 elephants will participate in the Jamboo Savari.

During their stay in Mysuru, the elephants will participate in a few festivities and rituals related to Dasara, including Jamboo Savari. The training sessions for the elephants will commence on Wednesday. The elephants will undergo weight check on Tuesday.

Forest department officials and veterinarians conducted a check-up of the elephants and certified that they are healthy and fit.

District incharge Minister V Somanna, MP Pratap Simha, MLAs L Nagendra and K Mahadevu, Mayor Pushpalatha Jagannath, Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G Sankar and Police Commissioner K T Balakrishna were present.