Novelty never fades for Mysuru’s marquee event as lakhs soak in spectacle

Mysuru: The 10-day Dasara celebrations concluded with the Vijayadashami on Saturday, as huge crowds watched the Jamboo Savari on the premises of the Mysuru Palace and on the ‘Raja Marga’.

The palace was a beehive of activity since morning, with a posse of policemen on duty.

All roads led to the palace and the whole city wore a festive atmosphere, eager to watch the grand pageantry.

Neither the scorching sun nor the rain that lashed for around one hour thereafter deterred the audience.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah performed puja to Nandhi Dhwaja near Kote Anjaneya Swami temple at the auspicious hour and entered the premises to a huge applause from the gathering.

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, Ministers H C Mahadevappa, K Venkatesh, M C Sudhakar and Chamarajanagar MP Sunil Bose accompanied him.

Scores of cultural, folk troupes and 52 tableaux left the crowd in awe. Folk artistes dressed up as mythological characters were the main attraction. Once elephant Abhimanyu, with the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari in a howdah placed on his back, entered the scene, the gathering stood up automatically, with many raising the slogan ‘Chamundeshwari ge Jai’.

Many people were seen clicking pictures of and selfies with the cultural troupes. Vehicular traffic was restricted on the roads in the city centre, with the police erecting barricades.

The palace was open for public entry at 10 am itself. People started entering the premises as per the instructions given in their passes or invitation cards.

Like every year, there was confusion regarding the entry gates as the police themselves were clueless.

Haripriya from Bengaluru said, “This is the first time that I watched the Jamboo Savari. I was super excited. Most importantly, I want to post it on social media. All my friends have come to Mysuru for Dasara. So, I too made it a point to watch it live”.

Namratha, a resident of Mysuru working in Bengaluru said, “It was the first time that I watched the procession on the palace premises. I watched it when I was a child at Highway Circle. Then, I could see the ‘Ambari’ only from a distance. Today, I watched up close the tableaux, folk troupes and everything that the procession comprised of. I had a great time, except that the NCC cadets, police and other officials blocked the view at times”.