Dasara elephants led by Abhimanyu are having it easy though they are undergoing routine practice since the last few days within the palace premises and getting acclimatised to the urban environment.
Unlike in the past, Dasara has been reduced to symbolism this year due to the pandemic and will be devoid of the 5-km-long procession in which the presence of the elephants was the top attraction. In all, 12 elephants used to camp in the city for 45 days ahead of the festivities and it was done to help them get acclimatised to the din and noise of the city. It was also an exercise to make the elephants familiar with the procession route.
But this year’s event slated to take place from October 17 to 27 will be a simple affair and confined to the palace premises. So instead of the customary 12 elephants, only 5 elephants will participate and the procession will hardly cover around 400 metres to 500 metres. Hence the veterinarians have decided that a daily walk of 1.5 km around the palace premises was sufficient an exercise to keep the elephants fit instead of the regular walk of 10 km from the palace to Bannimantap and back which was the norm all these years.
Abhimanyu began “weight training”’ and carried a sand bag weighing 350 kg on Thursday. The weight of the sand bag will gradually be increased over the next few days to match the 750 kg weight of the golden howdah which it will carry during the Vijayadashmi procession on October 27.
Elephant Vikrama too will under go “weight training” from Friday and be a standby for Abhimanyu. The elephants’ health was being regularly monitored by a team of veterinarians led by Dr. Nagaraj. Abhimanyu and company were being fed with a special diet to enable them to gain weight and strength and be fit for the procession.
The entry of elephants to the palace every year during Dasara used to draw a huge crowd to watch their daily activities and was a photo opportunity for the tourists. But the authorities have banned the entry of visitors to the elephant camps and tourists are conspicuous by their absence at the palace due to the pandemic.
