PTI
Mysuru
As curtains fall on the 11-day grandeur of the Mysury Dasara celebrations, the city of palaces is all set for a spectacular procession on Vijayadashami on Wednesday that will also mark the grand finale of the iconic event.
Celebrated as ‘Nada Habba’ (state festival), the Dasara or ‘Sharan Navaratri’ festivities were a grand affair this year, depicting Karnataka’s rich culture and traditions, reminiscent of royal pomp and glory.
Thousands of people are expected to witness the ‘Jamboo Savari,’ a march of a dozen caparisoned elephants led by ‘Prashantha,’ carrying the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari, the presiding deity of Mysuru and its royals, on a 750 kg howdah or ‘Ambari’ covered with gold.
The grand procession will begin with Chief Minister D K Shivakumar offering pooja to the ‘Nandi Dhwaja’ (Nandi Flag) between 1.36 pm and 1.56 pm during the auspicious ‘Makara Lagna,’ at the Balarama gate of the imposing Amba Vilas Palace here.
The procession, consisting of a number of artistes or cultural groups and tableaux from various districts depicting their regional culture and heritage, will cover a distance of about five km before culminating at Bannimantapa.
Tableaux from various government departments, schemes, programmes and those depicting social messages are also expected to be part of the procession. Tableaux representing all three wings of the country’s armed forces are expected to showcase their valour, service and spirit. Large numbers of people are expected to line up along the procession route hours before it starts.
The Chief Minister and other dignitaries, including the erstwhile Mysuru royal family scion Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, will then flag off the procession of caparisoned elephants by showering flowers on the idol of Chamundeshwari, placed in a howdah, during the auspicious ‘Meena Lagna’ between 4.10 pm and 4.35 pm. Shivakumar had recently said that his Keralam and Telangana counterparts, V D Satheesan and A Revanth Reddy, respectively, will take part in the celebration this year.
Twenty-one shots will be fired from the cannons, as elephant Prashantha carrying the goddess in a howdah, flanked by ‘Kumki’ (trained) elephants, will arrive at the especially erected dais for dignitaries to offer flowers.
Prashantha, a 54-year-old experienced pachyderm, will carry the golden howdah for the first time this year. Elephant Dhananjaya has been designated as the reserve elephant in case of an emergency.
Abhimanyu will lead the contingent as the ‘Nishane’ elephant, while Gopi will be the ‘Naupat’ elephant. Kaveri and Roopa will accompany the howdah elephant as ‘Kumki’ elephants. Ekalavya, Sugreeva, Lakshmi, Srikanta, Srirama and Mahendra will be part of the supporting elephant contingent, adding to the grandeur of the procession.
