Mysuru: The first batch of eight Dasara elephants, which arrived in Mysuru on Saturday evening, are resting at forest department's Tree Park, adjacent to Aloka Palace at Yelwala, nearly 15 km from Mysuru.
Arjuna, Balarama, Abhimanyu, Bheema, Varalakshmi, Cauvery and Vijaya were all brought to city in individual lorries, followed by Gajapayana event at Nagapura tribal hamlet near Nagarahole in Hunsur taluk on Saturday.
Gajendra arrived from K Gudi camp, Biligiri Ranga Tiger reserve,Chamarajnagar on Saturday.
On Thursday, around 10.30 am, the elephants would be brought to Aranya bhavan premises followed by a pooja. From there they will be decked with caparisons and marched to towards Mysuru Palace.
Later they will be welcomed formally by Dasara executive committee, to Palace courtyards, along with their mahouts, kavadis and their families, followed by celebration and rituals at the Jayamarthanda gate of Mysuru Palace. They will stay at the palace courtyards until the end of Dasara.
As there is a gap of few days between Gajapayana and welcome ritual at Palace, the forest officials want the jumbos not to face disturbance from general public, hence they have been kept them at Tree Park.
However, despite the distance, many people from Mysuru have gone there with small children in tow to catch a glimpse of the pachyderms. Many even took selfies with the gentle giants.
After their arrival at Tree Park, the jumbos are slowly getting accustomed to new atmosphere. Most of these elephants have spent little time outside their jungle camps. They sometimes take part in the forest department operation to chase off elephants that have moved out of forests onto human habitats.
Arjuna, who spent a night at Nagapura tribal hamlet on Friday night on the eve of Gajapayana, and at Mysuru on Saturday night has had sleepless nights for the past two days owing to unfamiliar places.
While his special nutritious meal would begin after he arrives at the Palace premises, he had kusri (coconut, jaggery, paddy all wrapped in hey straw), dry banyan leaves and grass. He was given bath thrice morning afternoon and evening to cool his body.
Bheema, who is making his debut this Dasara, is not new to city life as he had participated in some temple rituals, and also taken part in some forest department operations. "He is very gentle, does his work smoothly at forest. He will surely get accustomed to Dasara crowd," said Raju, Bheema's caretaker.
Eight mahouts, eight kavadis and their 30 family members too have been accommodated in the forest department building.
