Countdown begins for Mysuru Dasara festivities

Mysuru: The world-famous Mysuru Dasara 2021 has a rich history of hundreds of years. This year, like last year, the celebrations are going to be simple because of Covid scare.

The countdown for the festival began on Wednesday with offering of puja to Goddess Kalarathri Devi, one of the forms of Goddess Durga, on the seventh day of Navarathri, seeking good health and peace for the people. Lead elephant of Jumbo Savari Abhimanyu, horses, camels and cows were offered puja. After the rituals, titular king Yaduveer Krishnadutta Chamaraja Wadiyar held a private durbar. Giving details of security for Jumbo Savari slated for Friday, Mysuru Commissioner of Police Dr Chandragupta said, "There will be tight police security around the Mysuru Palace.

Some of the roads that lead to the Palace have been banned for vehicular traffic. An official order will be issued tomorrow." The top cop further said, "In view of the pandemic situation, strict Covid guidelines will be followed. The final rehearsal of the Jumbo Savari was held on Wednesday successfully and all the other arrangements are in place for the final day."

The Karnataka government has capped the number of participants in Jumbo Savari and torchlight parade to 500 and made a negative RT-PCR report and one dose of Covid vaccination mandatory for them.