Dasara jumbos to arrive in Mysuru on Aug. 21

The arrangements for receiving the jumbos at the Veeranahosahalli gate in Nagarahole Tiger Reserve and their subsequent journey to Mysuru are almost done with the place where the event is happening is getting decked up.

Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre, Minister in charge of Mysuru district H.C. Mahadevappa, and other dignitaries will be present to flag off the jumbo march on August 21 at Veeranahosahalli Gate at 10:20 am.

Deputy Conservator of Forest Prabhu Gowda I.B. shared details on the Gajapayana at a press conference here on Monday.

The first batch of nine elephants that are going to arrive here for the festivities will be led by howdah elephant Abhimanyu.

The elephants, after a day of rest at the Aranya Bhavan on their arrival from their jungle camps on August 21, will get a grand reception on their arrival at the palace on August 23.

On arriving at the palace and making it their base camp till the conclusion of the festivities, the elephants, under the supervision of the forest officers, will be trained for the Jamboo Savari – the Dasara finale.

Cultural programmes and felicitation to the mahouts and kavadis are also part of the Gajapayana event.

The final list of Dasara elephants includes Abhimanyu, Mahendra, Gopi, Bheema, Prashantha, Dhananjaya, Sugreeva, Hiranya, Rohita, Ekalavya, Kanjan, Lakshmi, Varalakshmi, Lakshmi from Doddharave, Harsha, Aiyappa, Parthasarathi and Maladevi. In total, 14 elephants will make it to the Dasara jumbo squad. Among the 14, four will be in stand-by.

Like last year, Abhimanyu will be the lead tusker in this year’s Dasara and it will carry the famed 750-kg golden howdah.

Lakshmi, 52, from Doddaharave, Hiranya, 46, from Ramapura, Rohit, 21, from Ramapura, and Kanjan, 24, from Dubare took part in Dasara for the first time last year. All four jumbos have been included this year by the forest department after going through their profile and other factors while the remaining ones are veterans or have a lengthy experience of participating in the festivities.

The arrival of elephants signals the preparations for the festivities which are commencing on October 3. The government has announced to celebrate the festivities on a grand scale with the state getting good rains. Though last year was a drought, the celebrations, however, did not lose its sheen, with most events having been retained.