Arjuna to lead Dasara celebrations again!

Mysuru: With Dasara around the corner, the State government has approved the participation of 12 elephants among the 15 proposed by the Department of Forests.

It has been decided that foremost among the caparisoned pachyderms will be Arjuna, who carried the 750 Golden Howdah housing the goddess Chamundeswari last year. He will lead the show this year too. He will be the howdah elephant for the fifth consecutive year.

Meanwhile, Gajendra, who killed his Mahouth Ganapathi and his fellow Dasara veteran Srirama will both be missing. And Balarama, who has carried the golden howdah 13 times, will be given the royal task of Pattad aane in place of Gajendra for rituals during the Navarathri festivities of the Royal family of Mysuru, DCF Ms Kamala told Deccan Chronicle.

She added that the State Government has finalized Arjuna, Balarama, Abhimanyu, Prashantha, Vikrama, Harsha, Gopi, Gopalswamy, Chaithra, Cauvery, Durga Parameswari and one new female elephant, Kenchamba, to participate in this year’s Dasera.

Kenchamba and Cauvery are replacements for Varalakshmi, who has given birth to a young one and Mary, who is pregnant, Ms Kamala said.

Additionally, the Forest department has already proposed three dates for Gajapayana, the first step towards the preparation for the festivities -- the journey of the Dasera elephants from the forests to the royal city of Mysuru for the acclimatization exercise. These 3 dates are:  24th, 27th and 31st of this month.

According to the District-in- charge Minister, Mr V. Srinivasprasad, it is likely to be held on the 31st of this month or first week of September.

While Chief Minister Mr Siddaramaiah and Revenue Minister Mr V. Srinivasprasad are attending a meeting on drought with the Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, in Delhi, once they are back the meeting is likely to be held in the next two days, during which the final structure of this year’s Dasera will be finalised, as well as the date for Gajapayana, sources said.