Mysuru, 10 Oct

Mysuru, the cultural capital of Karnataka, is decked up for the historic jamboo savari (procession of elephants) and torchlight parade at Bannimantap Parade Grounds as part of Dasara celebrations on Saturday.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah along with ministers will participate in the procession while Governor Thawarchand Gehlot will attend the torchlight parade.

The procession of the elephants led by golden howdah-carrying Abhiymanyu marks the culmination of nine-day Dasara festivities. With this, all Dasara-related events such as cultural programmes, flower shows, drone shows, Yuva Dasara, Yoga Dasara, Women and Raitha Dasara and wrestling will also come to an end. However, Dasara illumination will be on till 23 October and Dasara exhibition till the end of December this year.  

On Vijayadashami day on Saturday, Siddaramaiah will kick off Dasara procession by performing Nandi Dhwaja puja on Makara Lagna between 1.41pm and 2.10pm at Kote Anjaneyaswamy Temple in the north gate of Mysore Palace. More than 50 cultural troupes and tableaux will be part of the procession. The dignitaries will offer floral tributes to elephant Abhimanyu on Kumba Lagna between 4pm and 4.30pm on Vijayadashami day.

Meanwhile, Forest Department has finalised the roles of nine elephants taking part in the Dasara procession. Dhananjaya will march as Nishaane Elephant (who will move at the forefront of the procession). He will be followed by Gopi, Sugreeva, Prashantha, Ekalavya, Mahendra and other elephants.

As lakhs of people are flooding the City, district administration and police have made a host of arrangements. City police have deployed more than 6,500 police personnel including 1,500 homeguards. In addition to the installation of 13,140 CCTVs cameras for surveillance, city police have also installed an additional 150 CCTVs along the procession route, Mysore Palace, Bannimantap Parade Grounds. As many as 20 ambulances, 20 fire tenders, drone cameras, mobile command centres and round-the-clock police patrolling have been employed. – Salar News