The third and the last cannon firing practice concluded here Friday. The practice was done to familiarise Dasara elephants to the booming sound from the firing. The 21-gun salute is accorded after the Jamboo Savari is flagged off.
Minister in charge of Mysuru district S.T. Somashekar witnessed the firing practice outside the palace premises and also spoke to the forest officials on the preparations done so far. “The rehearsals have been done successfully,” he said.
Deputy Conservator of Forest K. Karikalan said the elephants have completed their rehearsals for Jamboo Savari. won't be any weight carrying rehearsals hereafter. Barring walking within the palace premises in the morning and evenings, the elephants would be rested until the Vijayadashami procession, he said.
Out of eight elephants that took part in the rehearsals so far, only five will be part of Jamboo Savari. Abhimanyu will be the lead elephant and carry the golden howdah while Kaveri and Chaitra will be his companions (kumkhi). Among Dhananjaya, Gopalaswamy and Ashwattama, only two will perform the roles of Nishane and Naupath elephants. Vikrama continues to be in masth and therefore it won’t be part of the finale while Lakshmi is young and needs more experience, he said.
Two jumbos to Srirangapatna
Meanwhile, two elephants – Gopalaswamy and Kaveri – will be sent to Srirangapatna to be part of Dasara celebrations in the town that begins on Saturday. “We have received an order in this regard and the two elephants will be taken to Srirangapatna on Saturday morning. After the day’s event, the jumbos will return by night. There is no procession in the town in view of the pandemic but the jumbos shall be used in the traditional celebrations,” he said.
This year’s Srirangapatna Dasara will be held for three days from October 9.
