Dasara jumbos in fine fettle for festival finale on Tuesday

 Dasara elephants, led by howdah elephant Arjuna, are all set for the Dasara finale on October 11, Vijayadashami.

After a rigorous rehearsal, Arjuna is ready to carry the golden howdah weighing 750 kg. He will be accompanied by 11 other elephants — Balarama, Abhimanyu, Gajendra, Kaveri, Vijaya, Vikrama, Gopi, Prashanth, Durgaparameshwari, Harsha and Gopalaswamy. While Gajendra will be ‘Naupat’, Balarama will be the ‘Nishane’ elephant during the Jamboo Savari. Female elephants Kaveri and Vijaya will be the ‘kumki’ elephants.

A full-fledged rehearsal was conducted on Saturday and all the elephants completed the task without any hitch. A wooden howdah, a replica of the golden one, was placed on Arjuna and 11 elephants accompanied him along the Dasara procession route. According to the authorities, all the 12 elephants which take part in the ‘Jamboo Savari’ are fit and healthy. To ensure the well-being of the elephants and their caretakers, this year too, the Forest department has insured them.

The jumbos will be weighed on Monday evening, to check their health status. During the previous weight test in August, howdah elephant Arjuna was 5,615 kg, his predecessor Balarama was 4,920 kg, Abhimanyu 4,855 kg and Gajendra 4,620 kg. The female elephants Kaveri and Vijaya were 3,005 kg and 2,635 kg, respectively.

The Vijayadashami procession will commence at 2.45 pm during the auspicious Makara lagna. Earlier, at 2.16 pm, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will offer puja to ‘Nandi Dhwaja’ at Balarama Gate of the Mysuru Palace. However, he will shower flower petals on the Chamundeshwari idol, placed inside the howdah, only at 4.45 pm.

For the first time, Sanappa, son of Doddamasti, former mahout of Arjuna, will be in charge of the howdah elephant. Doddamasti died at Ballehaadi in D B Kuppe range of Nagarahole early August. This time, 45 tableaux — of ZPs, departments and corporations — will participate in the procession. The festival committee has allowed only 50 art troupes to take part, owing to time constraint.

Ayudha Puja today

The erstwhile royal family will perform the Ayudha puja at 6.30 am on Monday. The scion of the family Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar will perform the puja and remove the ‘kankana,’ tied during the beginning of the Navaratri festivities, later during the day.

He will perform the ‘banni puja’ from 11.30 am to 12.30 pm inside the Palace on Tuesday and set out to the Someshwara temple to conclude the Dasara celebrations.

Police seize drone camera

The police on Sunday seized a drone camera at Chamundi Vihar Stadium in Mysuru.
The city police have banned the use of drone or helicam during Dasara celebrations, owing to security issues. Police Commissioner B Dayananda had recently warned people against the use of these gadgets. The police said the camera was being used by a private individual to capture the ‘Cyclothon’ event, reports DHNS from Mysuru.

The police said the Director General Civil Aviation has banned such cameras due to security problems. Even the police are not using drones to monitor security arrangements in the city this Dasara. Since last few years, the police had been using drones to monitor the Jamboo Savari route and other parts of the city during Dasara. A couple of days ago, the police had seized a drone camera at the Dasara exhibition grounds and later returned it to its owner.