The gentle giants from jungle camps, led by Abhimanyu, made a majestic entry at Mysuru palace and were offered a ceremonial welcome on September 16. The elephants have arrived for the Dasara celebrations. Abhimanyu and the other elephants were received at Jayamarthanda Gate with full paraphernalia, including police band and traditional musicians.
The caparisoned elephants were the cynosure of all eyes from the time they stepped out of Aranya Bhavan. Vehicle movement ceased and bystanders applauded as the majestic animals marched along the main thoroughfares of Mysure. For the people of Mysuru, their arrival marks the beginning of the countdown to the Dasara celebrations.
The other elephants are Gopalswamy, Vikrama, Dhananjaya, Ashwathama, Kaveri, Chaitra and Lakshmi. Ashwathama, who will be participating in the Dasara celebrations for the first time, panicked briefly as he was in unfamiliar surroundings, but the mahout and his assistant calmed him down after which he marched to the palace with the other elephants.
Though the Nada Habba (festival of the State) has been scaled down due to COVID-19 pandemic, the presence of elephants tends to shore up the festive spirit. At Jayamarthanda Gate, priests performed a special puja for their collective welfare and chanted hymns after which flower petals were showered on the elephants. The district in-charge Minister S.T. Somashekar, Mayor Sunanda Palanetra, MLAs S.A. Ramdas and L.Nagendra, senior officials from the district administration were among those present at the event.
The elephants were offered sugarcane, jaggery and coconut after which they were ushered into the open courtyard leading to Amba Vilas palace. After another round of prayers and other ceremonial activities, the elephants were taken to a vacant courtyard where they will remain, along with their mahouts, till the conclusion of the festivities on October 15.
It is customary for the elephants to be brought to Mysuru 45 days before the festival to enable them to acclimatise to the city and its environment. The elephants are also familiarised with the 5-km route of the Vijayadashmi procession from the palace to the Bannimantap ground.
But this year, the elephants will have it easy, as the procession will be confined within the palace premises.
