The caparisoned elephants who led the cultural troupes and tableaux were the stars of this year’s Jamboo Savari which concluded in the city on Friday.
Balarama, the Nishane elephant carrying the royal insignia, was accompanied by eight others in a single file. The elephants have always been part of the Dasara celebrations as tradition inherited from the rulers of Vijayanagar empire.
While the cultural troupes including the tableaux depicting aspects of the State’s diverse cultures remain an attraction and provided a window to the repertoire of Karnataka’s traditions, it was the elephants that received the most applause.
The other elephants that followed Balarama included Naupat elephant Abhimanyu, Prashantha, Dhananjaya, Drona, Vijaya, Chaitra, Vikrama and Gopi, while Arjuna, carrying the 750 kg golden ambari with the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari, was flanked by Varalakshmi and Cauvery.
The crowd gave a rousing reception to the elephants as they emerged from the Jayarama gate of the palace. They were trained for almost 45 days. The loudest applause accompanied by religious frenzy was reserved for Arjuna.
Fast forwarded
This year, the Jamboo Savari appeared to be fast forwarded. The elephants, 42 tableaux, 50 cultural troupes, and Ambari elephant Arjuna marched out of Amba Vilas Palace in a span of one hour and fifteen minutes.
The procession began at 3.10 p.m. The idol was showered with flower petals at 4.10 p.m. Arjuna, flanked by Cauvery and Varalakshmi, emerged out of the palace by 4.45 p.m. In the next 15 minutes, the remaining tableaux and the troupes also marched out of the palace, and the people gathered inside started vacating the place.
Police personnel who had outnumbered the volunteers were seen continuously asking the artistes and tableaux volunteers to move faster. It gave an impression that there were instructions to fast forward the procession because of the delayed ‘muhurtha’.
By the time the Ambari jumbo arrived at Chamaraja Circle, the crowds breached the barricades and poured into the circle even as the police watched helplessly. The police and the commando surrounded the three elephants with a thick rope.
