Lead elephant Abhimanyu will be rested till the Dasara finale as it has successfully finished all tasks, mainly the weight carrying training being the golden howdah-carrying tusker on the occasion of Jamboo Savari during the Vijayadashami procession.
For the next fortnight, Abhimanyu won’t be carrying the weight but will take part in the daily march from the palace to Bannimantap and vice-versa. “Abhimanyu had sufficient weight training since last month. It now needs rest from weight carrying. Mahendra and Dhananjay too carried weight and a couple of more sessions are pending for the duo. But Abhimanyu has successfully done all its tasks,” said Deputy Conservator of Forests, Wildlife division, V. Karikalan.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Karikalan said Abhimanyu underwent weight training – first round was carrying sand bags and the second round was carrying sand bags along with the wooden replica of the howdah.
“The weight was gradually increased from 300 kg up to 760 kg as the golden howdah alone weighs about 750 kg. The combined weight with the sand bags will be more. With all this done, the full weight training is over for Abhimanyu,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Forest Department has once again requested the Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC) to light up the procession route up to Bannimantap earlier than scheduled to acclimatise the jumbos to the bright lights.
The department had sought lighting along the route from September 19 but the CESC has proposed to light up the route from September 23 onwards (Dasara begins from September 26) over the request. Yet, the Forest Department has once again requested the CESC to consider lighting little earlier than planned to get the jumbos used to the lights.
The complete rehearsal from the palace till Bannimantap and return journey takes around 3 hours. The evening rehearsals are done after 5 p.m. and the jumbos return after dusk. This year’s Jamboo Savari will be flagged off after 5.30 p.m. onwards and therefore the Forest authorities want the route illuminated earlier than scheduled since the jumbos have to return under the lights after the procession concludes.
“We don’t want full-fledged lighting. At least minimal lighting is okay. The step is to familiarize the jumbos to the illuminated surroundings. We are hopeful of the CESC considering our request,” said Mr. Karikalan.
He said tuskers Mahendra, Dhananjay and Parthasarathy are very promising and can make a strong jumbo team. The DCF described the three as the most obliging jumbos, carrying out their tasks at ease.
“We are planning to allow ten elephants in the Dasara procession,” Mr. Karikalan replied.
