A fortnight after their arrival to Mysuru from their jungle camps, the weight carrying rehearsal for Dasara elephants began here on Friday, September 15.
The rehearsal got off with Abhimanyu, which is the lead elephant that carries the 750-kg golden howdah, carrying nearly 600 kg of weight on its back on the first day of practice. The weight, by and large, comprised sand bags. Such a rehearsal will be conducted on a regular basis until the festivities to familiarise the jumbos to their tasks.
Besides Abhimanyu, other tuskers in the team are also made to carry the weight as a standby though Abhimanyu will be carrying the ‘ambari’ on the day of Jamboo Savari.
Carrying the weight, Abhimanyu, accompanied by eight other elephants, marched majestically on the Raja Marga from the palace to Bannimantap and returned to the palace. In turns, the tuskers are made to undertake the weight carrying practice which is supervised by the forest officials and the staff who look after the wellbeing of the jumbos.
Conservator of Forest Malathi Priya said besides Abhimanyu, Dhananjaya, Mahendra, Gopi and Bheema – the tuskers in the Dasara jumbo squad – will also be carrying weight in the coming days. Since today was the first day of the exercise, it started with Abhimanyu carrying the weight. In the coming days, weight will also increase, reaching a maximum of 1,200 kg – to match the weight that was to be carried on the day of Jamboo Savari by the lead tusker.
“The Taalim (rehearsal) that is being done by the jumbos will continue until the finale,” she said.
She said the second batch of five elephants will be arriving on September 25.
The elephants will reach Mysuru from their respective camps.
Among the five, three are new to Dasara and they include Hiranya and Rohit from Ramapura camp, Lakshmi from Doddaharave camp, Sugreeva and Prashantha from Dubare camp.
