Mysuru: With just two days to go for the famed Jumboo Savari on Vijayadashami day, the choice has once again fallen on 56- year- old elephant Arjuna to carry the 750 kg golden howdah for the sixth year running.
He will be accompanied by elephants Cauvery and Vijaya , according to DCF Ganesh Bhat. The passing away of Arjuna’s mahout , Dodda Masthi recently, had put a question mark on his role in the Dasara procession, but the mahout's son, Sannappa, who had assisted him, has stepped into his shoes quite successfully, going by the officer.
Also, the fact that Arjuna was able to successfully carry a 750 kg wooden howdah over the 5 km procession route in 59 minutes, decided it for the organisers.
A Dasara veteran, Balarama, 58, who has carried the golden howdah in 14 Jumboo Savaris, will be the Nishane elephant at the forefront of the procession, and Gajendra will be the Nauphat elephant, carrying the royal insignia.
Abhimanyu, Gopi, Harsha, Prashantha, Gopalswamy will be the Saalaanes. All 10 elephants participated in the first day of the rehearsals along with 10 battalions of the police and nine police bands before the Mysuru Palace Saturday morning.
They were familiarised with the sound of 21 rounds of cannon shots that will be go off simultaneously with the national salute during the procession. There will be yet another rehearsal on Sunday morning.
