The daily route march and familiarisation exercise of the Dasara elephants crossed an important milestone on Thursday when the authorities hoisted a wooden howdah on elephant Arjuna’s back to test his endurance level to withstand the weight.
The 12 elephants are on a route familiarisation march since nearly a month and Arjuna is designated as the howdah elephant as he will be vested with the responsibility of carrying the 750-kg golden howdah in the Vijayadashami procession to be held on October 8.
Arjuna, who weighs more than 4 tonnes, easily carried the wooden howdah along the procession route and completed the walk covering 5 km in 1 hour and 26 minutes.
The wooden howdah weighed around 280 kg to which around 300 kg of sand bags were added. This will be gradually increased to reach nearly 750 kg to match the actual weight of the golden howdah so that the elephant gets acclimatised.
The rehearsal with the wooden howdah commenced at 8.02 a.m.
Arjuna and company marched from the palace gates and covered Chamaraja Circle and K.R.Circle, walked along the New Sayyaji Rao Road and terminated their march at the Bannimantap Grounds.
The daily route familiarisation march of the elephants is conducted with a lot of planning and a jeep with magnet laced to it moves slowly ahead of the elephants. This is to scrap the road clean of any metals that may otherwise hurt the elephants’ feet. Alongside, CESC officials keep a watch to ensure that there are no overhead wires or power cables dangling. The elephants are being given a special diet and are gaining in strength and weight.
