Mysuru’s Vijayadashami procession, the concluding public event of the 11-day Dasara festival, will be held on Wednesday with the district administration completing arrangements for the Jamboo Savari, a five-kilometre procession expected to draw large crowds of residents and visitors.
Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar is scheduled to perform the traditional Nandi Dhwaja puja at the Balarama Gate of the Mysuru Palace between 1.36pm and 1.56pm. The formal procession will begin after flowers are offered to the Chamundeshwari idol, which will be placed in the 750-kg golden howdah carried by Prashantha, the new captain elephant of the Gajapade. The ceremony is scheduled at the Amba Vilas Palace between 4.10pm and 4.35pm.
Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara, royal family member and MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, district in-charge minister Yathindra Siddaramaiah, Kannada and Culture Minister Shivaraj S. Thangadagi and MLA T.S. Srivatsa are expected to attend the event. The procession will move along the city’s main ceremonial route before reaching Bannimantap.
The administration has arranged 48,000 seats inside the palace premises. Access to the palace viewing area will be restricted to dignitaries, invitees and people holding gold cards, tickets or passes. The Mysuru Dasara website has also made arrangements for a live webcast of the festival programmes.
Security deployment will include six thousand police personnel and 23 superintendents of police, according to the report. The arrangements follow a final rehearsal of the elephant contingent held in the palace premises on Monday. The elephants scheduled to participate include Abhimanyu, the flag elephant; Gopi, the naubat elephant; Mahendra, Srirama, Srikanta, Kaveri, Chaitra, Lakshmi, Sugriva, Ekalavya and Roopa, followed by Prashantha carrying the golden howdah.
The procession will feature cultural groups, tableaux representing 15 districts, and tableaux and musical bands from the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy. A special attraction this year will be the participation of members of the Kannada film industry. District Commissioner G. Lakshmikanth told Prajavani that 150 actors, producers and directors would take part in the procession, with separate seating arrangements made for them.
The festival will conclude at Bannimantap with the torchlight parade at 7pm. Governor Sudha Yadav is scheduled to watch the parade and receive the ceremonial salute. A drone display will also be held as part of the closing programme.
The palace will host the royal family’s private durbar and Ayudha Puja before the public procession. The traditional Vajra Mushti Kalaga is also scheduled. The district administration has described the preparations for the Vijayadashami procession as complete after the earlier Dasara programmes were conducted successfully.
The festival’s final day will also bring large public processions to other parts of Karnataka. Madikeri will host a night procession of ten illuminated tableaux, while Mangaluru’s Dasara procession will begin at 4pm. In Udupi district’s Kaup taluk, the Uchila Dasara procession will end with the immersion of the idol in the sea.
