Jamboo Savari, the final act of Mysore Dasara, was witnessed by as many as five lakh people on Monday
The nine-day Navarathri festivities culminated with a grand Jamboo Savari on the day of Vijayadashami on Monday.
The alpha male elephant Arjuna, caparisoned and decorated, carried the golden Howdah for the 5.7 kilometre journey from Amba Vilas Palace to Bannimantap torchlight parade grounds.
Mounted policemen, along with state reserve police contingents, 102 folk dance troupes, 42 tableaux, the palace guards, police band, the palace band, courtiers and scholars of the palace took part in the procession.
A few people dressed in white and white walked casually in front the Howdah elephant, waving to the people and cracking jokes among themselves, much to the chagrin of other people. Some of them were upcoming politicians and members of the city corporation and zilla panchayat. Though the district in charge minister Srinivasa Prasad had promised that he would not let anybody mar the decorum of the procession in a press conference, it appeared that he forgot to take note of this aberration.
All through the route of the procession, people gathered in big numbers and cheered it. Some of them had been occupying the sidewalks right from 9am, though the procession began only at 2pm. The police estimated that the Dasara procession was watched by over five lakh people.
Some of the eye catching dance troupes included Somana Kunitha, Dollu Kunitha, Kamsale, Nandidhwaja, Veergagase, Patada Kunitha, tribal dance from hills of the Coastal areas and Goravara dance forms.
There was a high religious fervour even among the themes on which the tableaux were built, as most of them depicted religious entities. However, Bangalore Urban district depicted the legend of Kempe Gowda, while Bellary district depicted the era of Krishnadevaraya.
Elephantine efforts
Balarama, the elephant that carried the golden Howdah for 16 years, was assigned the task of carrying ‘Nishane Aane’, the flag with a government insignia of Dasara, along with another tusker called Gajendra.
The elephants traveled on the same route as the golden howdah (between Amba Vilas palace and Bannimantap torchlight parade grounds), few minutes before the launch of the procession.
Though Balarama showed signs of reluctance during the practice sessions, his mahout Thimma was persistent that he would complete the task, and Balarama did not let him down.
14 elephants participated in the procession.
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