The early stirrings of the Mysore Dasara festivities begin at Veeranahosahalli, a sleepy lush green village 45 km away from Mysore. The elephants meant to take part in the festival start their journey from this village.
Known as Gajapayana in Kannada, it will begin this year on September 7. Twelve elephants have been lined up to make this journey and five among them are large tuskers - Gajendra, Sri Rama, Balarama, Arjuna and Abhimanyu. These five are capable of carrying the golden ‘howdah’ (carriage) on the day of the fabled Jamboo Savari, the main attraction of Dasara festival.
“Who will finally bear the golden howdah will be decided by a panel of experts in days to come. The elephants will undergo 25 days of practice in the city, starting from September 8,” Mysore district forest officer (wildlife) Devaraj told DNA. In addition to the senior tuskers, other elephants including Mary, Sarala and five other individual elephants were expected to join from various elephant camps from Thitimati, Dubare, and Kaigudi in BR Hills.
“The villagers of Veeranahosahalli take it as a matter of pride that their village had something to offer for the Dasara celebrations in Mysore. They spare no effort or expenses to decorate the village and give goodies to the elephants, the local temples and shrines also offer special poojas,” Hunsur MLA HP Manjunath said.
The search for the right elephant to carry the prestigious golden howdah was not easy. Devraj said, “The animal has to be strong, well-mannered, have its own personality, temperament to withstand the pressures of crowds, lights and most importantly the boom of the guns that are sounded during Dasara festivities. Drona and Balarama have these qualities and both put together had carried the howdah for more than a quarter century. Balarama has the distinction of carrying it 13 times and holds a record.”
The howdah weighs 750 kg, while the weight of mattresses and other paraphernalia will be another 100 kg. “So the individual elephant entrusted with the responsibility of carrying the Howdah should be trained to carry a total weight of 850 kg for a distance of 10 km — from Amba Vilas Palace to Bannimantap torch light parade grounds,” Devaraj said.
Along with the Gajapadae(herd of elephants) at least three attendants for each elephant- two kavadis (caretakers) and mahout (driver) of the elephant come to Mysore. They are housed on the eastern lawns of the palace which is reserved for the elephants, their crew and families.
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