Mysuru Dussehra concluded on Wednesday with the traditional Jamboo Savari procession drawing thousands of spectators to the palace city as the 11-day Nada Habba celebrations ended with cultural tableaux, caparisoned elephants and public events across Mysuru.
The Vijayadashami procession began after Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and other dignitaries offered pooja to the Nandi Dhwaja at the Balarama Gate of Amba Vilas Palace between 1.36 pm and 1.56 pm during the auspicious Makara Lagna. Shivakumar later greeted people gathered for the festival.
The procession covered about five kilometres from the palace before culminating at Bannimantapa. It included tableaux from Karnataka’s districts, government departments and public schemes, as well as displays carrying social messages. Cultural teams and tableaux from neighbouring states and the three Defence Forces participated in the procession for the first time this year, according to the report.
Keralam and Telangana Chief Ministers V D Satheesan and Revanth Reddy attended the celebrations at the invitation of Shivakumar. Foreign dignitaries, including ambassadors, consuls general and high commissioners, were also present. A contingent of Kannada film actors and sports personalities, including cricketer Anil Kumble, travelled on an open bus during the procession.
The Jamboo Savari was flagged off between 4.10 pm and 4.35 pm during Meena Lagna. Shivakumar, the two visiting chief ministers and other dignitaries, including erstwhile royal family scion Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, showered flowers on the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari placed in the howdah.
The 54-year-old elephant Prashantha carried the idol for the first time. He was accompanied by the kumki elephants Kaveri and Roopa and led a contingent of about a dozen caparisoned elephants. Prashantha carried the idol in a 750-kg ambari, covered with gold. Dhananjaya was kept as the reserve elephant, while Abhimanyu served as the Nishane elephant and Gopi as the Naupat elephant.
The procession was watched by large crowds who lined the route hours before it began. Twenty-one cannon shots were fired when Prashantha reached the specially erected dais, where dignitaries offered flowers to the goddess. The Jamboo Savari symbolises the victory of good over evil and continues a royal tradition in which the idol of Chamundeshwari is now carried instead of a king.
Mysuru’s public spaces and streets remained central to the wider festival. The palace, major roads, circles and buildings were illuminated during Deepalankaara, while food, flower, farmers’, women’s, youth and children’s events, poetry recitals, an air show, a drone show and an exhibition attracted visitors at different venues. These events turned large parts of the city into a festival circuit during the celebrations.
At the palace, the Navaratri programme included daily rituals and the Khasagi Durbar, during which Wadiyar ascended the golden throne amid Vedic chants. The traditional Vajramushti Kalaga, a duel involving wrestlers armed with knuckle-dusters, was not held this year. Sources cited in the report attributed its absence to a lack of coordination over the timing.
The festival was due to conclude with a torchlight parade at the Bannimantapa grounds on Wednesday evening, with Governor Sudha Yadav scheduled to attend.
