The death of howdah elephant Arjuna’s former mahout, Doddamasti, ahead of the Dasara has put the Forest Department staff in a quandary. They now have to be prepared to replace the elephant if need be.
Arjuna is reckoned to be a temperamental elephant, who brooks no nonsense and is hard to command. He was banished from the Dasara in the late ‘90s after he was accused of killing his mahout in 1997.
But Arjuna took over from Balarama in 2012 as he had considerably mellowed down, thanks to his trainer Maasti.
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A senior veterinarian, who has seen most of the Dasara elephants from close quarters, said that though Doddamasti retired from services, Arjuna had developed a close bond with his trainer and the family members.
With Doddamasti no more, the officials will now adopt a wait-and-watch policy before taking a final call on who will shoulder the responsibility of carrying the 750-kg golden howdah during the Vijayadashami procession.
The 12 Dasara elephants arrive 45 to 50 days ahead of the festival and are given a special diet to gain sufficient weight and strength to participate in the Dasara procession.
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Of the 12 elephants, three are trained every year to carry the 750 kg weight as a standby to the main howdah elephant just in case of emergency, said a senior forest official. Along with Arjuna, the officials will also watch out for the behaviour of the mahouts and their bonding with their respective elephants before taking a final call.
The other lead elephants in the reckoning are Abhimanyu, Gajendra and Balarama as a last resort, said the official.
Both Gajendra and Abhimanyu are in fine mettle and are robust elephants. Abhimanyu is the alpha charger, who has successfully subdued rogue tuskers in the wild and helped capture them to curb conflict situations. At 50 years, he is also the youngest of the three. “But the final call will be taken a few days before the Jamboo Savari slated for October 11,” the official said.