Palace keeps Dasara fervour alive

Mysuru: The city of palaces, Mysuru has not disappointed tourists despite the administration’s efforts to keep the 11-day Dasara celebrations low key owing to the Cauvery water crisis this year.  Decked up and illuminated as always for the  festival, it is keeping  the festive fervour alive.

But interestingly, it has achieved this while still working to sharply cut its electricity consumption from the 5000 kilowatts of the last Dasara to merely 750 kilo watts this year on account of the  poor storage in the state’s dams that has hit power production.

Aware of the shortfall , the Mysuru district administration is using specially designed LED lights for the illumination of the city, except for the green pandal on Raja Marga stretching from KR Circle to Ayurveda College Circle, the route that the famed Jumbo Savari will take on Vijayadashami Day , providing the grand climax to the festival.

The pandal is illuminated with incandescent bulbs , making sure that it loses  none of its traditional grandeur. But its LED bulbs for the rest of the city where as many as 11 roads covering 15kms and 40 circles have been illuminated  as have  the “Welcome” sign atop the Chamundi hills, and five other signs installed at different locations to lend more vibrancy to the festival.    

Crafts festival
Meanwhile, the two-day Dasara Art and Crafts festival was launched by Mysuru taluk panchayat chief  Kalamma Kemparamaiah and Mysuru DC D Randeep here Monday morning.

Besides exhibiting paintings, sculptures, graphic art, application art, photographs,  handicrafts and inlay work, the festival will have a live demo- cum- workshop of sculpture art and wooden handifcraft by 14 artists from across the state. Also 10 artists will hold workshops on painting, and five teams will be trained in creative art to encourage art and craft.