After a two-year lag, preparations made for grand Dasara festivities

Mysuru: After a hiatus of two years, all preparations have been made for grand Jamboo Savari on Wednesday, said Cooperation and district in-charge Minister S T Somashekar on Tuesday. He was speaking to media persons after hosting breakfast for mahouts and

kavadis of Dasara elephants and their family members at Palace premises.

"Arrangements have been made to accommodate people on the either side of Jamboo Savari route. The elephants have been trained for the past one month. Jamboo Savari is on Wednesday, and apart from elephant, 40 tableaux and cultural troupes will be a part of the procession", said Somashekar.

About 4,000 police have been deployed on security duty. Separate arrangements are made to park the vehicles. All precautionary measures have been taken as Governor, chief minister, high court judges and several other VIPs will be arriving for the ceremony.

Reacting to a query over the distribution of passes, Somashekar said "Passes have been distributed suiting the seating arrangements. Dasara is not just about passes, as Yuva Dasara, Raitha Dasara, Yuva Sambhrama that went on for a week, was without any passes. An estimated 15 lakh to 20 lakh people are expected to gather for Jamboo Savari, said Somashekar. Dasara Sub-Committees had organised the events in a systematic manner.

Appu Namana, Yuva Dasara, Raitha Dasara, poets meet and several other events were all organised in a successful way. All including Maharani, officials and people of Mysuru cooperated in organising the Dasara successfully, said Somashekar.

With the background of Ayudha Pooja celebration a special pooja was offered to elephant team in Mysore Palace premises. Nine elephants lined up near Kodi Someshwara temple in the palace, DCF Karikalan and officials offered pooja under the guidance of priest Prahlad Joshi. In front of the elephants, ankush, tusk and namda mat were placed and worshiped. The elephants were given sugarcane, banana, coconut and jaggery.