Jamboo Savari marks grand finale of Mysuru Dussehra celebrations

Mysuru’s 11-day Dussehra festivities culminate in the Vijayadashami procession, featuring caparisoned elephants, cultural tableaux and traditional ceremonies. Prashantha is set to carry the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari in a golden howdah as dignitaries and crowds gather for Jamboo Savari

Mysuru: The Vijayadashami procession got underway in the city of palaces on Wednesday, marking the grand finale of the 11-day Mysuru Dussehra festivities.

Celebrated as ‘Nada Habba’ (state festival), Dussehra, also known as ‘Sharan Navaratri’, was a grand affair this year, showcasing Karnataka’s rich culture and traditions and evoking the pomp and glory of its royal past.

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Thousands are expected to witness the ‘Jamboo Savari’ later in the evening, featuring a dozen caparisoned elephants led by ‘Prashantha’.

Prashantha will carry the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari, the presiding deity of Mysuru, in a 750-kg ‘Ambari’ (howdah) covered in gold.

Keralam Chief Minister V. D. Satheesan and Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy will attend this year’s celebrations at the invitation of their Karnataka counterpart, D. K. Shivakumar, official sources said.

Ambassadors, consuls general and high commissioners from various countries are also among the foreign dignitaries attending the celebrations, they said.

At the palace, in keeping with tradition, Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, scion of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family, took out the ‘Vijaya Yatra’ from Amba Vilas Palace to the Bhuvaneshwari Devi temple within the palace complex. He performed a special puja to the ‘Shami’ tree there.

The procession began with Shivakumar, accompanied by ministers and other dignitaries, offering prayers to the ‘Nandi Dhwaja’ (Nandi flag) at the Balarama Gate of Amba Vilas Palace between 1.36 pm and 1.56 pm during the auspicious ‘Makara Lagna’. Shivakumar then greeted the people of the state on Vijayadashami.

Large crowds lined the procession route hours before it began.

Cultural troupes and tableaux from various districts, depicting regional culture and heritage, will travel about five km before the procession culminates at ‘Bannimantapa’.

Tableaux representing various government departments, schemes and programmes, as well as those carrying social messages, are part of the procession.

Tableaux representing the three wings of the Defence Forces will showcase their valour, service and spirit. A contingent of Kannada film personalities is also participating.

Shivakumar, along with other dignitaries, including Wadiyar, will flag off the ‘Jamboo Savari’ by showering flowers on the idol of Chamundeshwari in the howdah during the auspicious ‘Meena Lagna’, between 4.10 pm and 4.35 pm.

Twenty-one cannon shots will be fired as Prashantha, flanked by ‘Kumki’ elephants, arrives at a specially erected dais where the dignitaries will offer flowers.

The procession is held on Vijayadashami, which symbolises the victory of good over evil.

In the past, the king would sit in the howdah accompanied by his brother and nephew. Sri Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar was the last ruling king of Mysuru to ride in it. The tradition continues, but the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari is now carried in the howdah instead of a king.

The core of the 750-kg howdah is said to be made of wood and covered with 80 kg of gold.