By The Hindu Bureau
Copyright thehindu
The expansive Dasara festivities in the City of Palaces drew to an impressive close on Thursday, as the Jamboo Savari offered a spectacular finale to the ‘Nada Habba’ (State festival), which had transformed Mysuru into a colourful hub of celebration and drawn thousands of visitors over the past 10 days.
People flocked to the city to witness the finale, with spectators capturing and experiencing every moment with exuberance, in keeping with its rich legacy.
Elaborate arrangements were in place with the city police taking extra caution and deploying tight security to ensure an ‘incident-free’ finale. Unlike earlier years, seating arrangements on the palace premises and around the Chamaraja Circle was restricted owing to security reasons. Yet, people turned up in sizeable numbers and stood to watch the grand spectacle unfolding on the Raja Marga – from Palace to Bannimantap – raising cheers, and capturing the sight in their mobile cameras.
Also, the district administration had curtailed the issue of passes and the police had enforced a strict “no pass, no entry” rule. Nevertheless, many people thronged the procession route after K.R. Circle till Bannimantap on the 5-km route.
This year, the police strictly prevented people from climbing old buildings on the route to watch the Vijayadashami spectacle.
Nandi Dwaja puja
The procession began with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, accompanied by district In-charge Minister H.C. Mahadevappa and other dignitaries, performing the ‘Nandi Dwaja’ puja around 1.10 pm. Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar joined the Chief Minister after some time.
The arrival of the caparisoned elephants drew cheers from the crowds as the ‘Nishane Ane’ Dhananjaya led the procession, followed by Gopi as ‘Naupath Ane’. Mahendra, Srikanta, and Lakshmi added charm with their march, followed by Kanjan, Bheema and Ekalavya with their grace. Jumbos Prashantha, Sugreeva and Hemavathi joined them, providing a spectacular sight.
Cultural and folk troupes and tableaux representing various districts and departments made their way in succession. Though brief showers lashed the city, it did not to dampen the spirits of the spectators.
The procession featured 59 tableaux and nearly 90 cultural and folk troupes.
Eyes on Abhimanyu
Like every year, all eyes were on 59-year-old Abhimanyu, who carried the 750-kg golden howdah with the idol (utsav murti) of goddess Chamundeshwari enshrined in it. Flanked by the kumki elephants Kaveri and Roopa, Abhimanyu’s entry around 4.40 p.m. sent the crowd into raptures.
As the lead elephant with flower-decked ‘ambari’ arrived at the palace forecourt, Mr. Siddaramaiah showered flower petals on the idol to flag off the Jamboo Savari. The Chief Minister was accompanied by Mr. Shivakumar, Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court Justice Vibhu Bakhru, MP for Mysuru Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, Mr. Mahadevappa, Minister for Kannada and Culture Shivaraj Tangadagi, among others.
As the VIPs showered petals on the goddess, the elephants raised their trunks and a 21-cannon salute resounded across the palace precincts, heralding the start of the savari.
Even as Abhimanyu had commando security cover, the police faced a tough time in crowd management as hundreds jostled to get a closer glimpse of the idol.
