The first batch of nine Dasara elephants is led by Abhimanyu, which has been successfully fulfilling the task of carrying the 750-kg golden howdah, will be welcomed into the Mysuru Palace on September 5 and thereafter their training for the Dasara finale – Jamboo Savari – will commence under the watchful eyes of forest officials and the staff.
Gajapayana of the nine elephants was held in a grand manner at Veeranahosahalli gate in Nagaragole Tiger Reserve on Friday, September 1.
Out of nine jumbos, a 24-year-old male from Dubare camp, Kanjan, is the new entrant to the Dasara jumbo squad. It weighs around 3,700 kilos to 3,900 kilos.
The lead jumbo for the 2023 squad is Abhimanyu, a 57-year-old tusker from Mattigodu camp. It weighs between 47,00 to 5,000 kilos.
Vijaya and Varalakshmi are the kumki elephants (companions) for Abhimanyu. While Vijaya is a 63-year-old female jumbo from Dubare camp, Varalakshmi is a 67-year-old female from Bheemakatte camp.
This year, a pregnancy test was done on all female elephants that had been shortlisted for the festivities. This was done since a female elephant that was part of the squad last year delivered a calf ahead of Dasara in the surroundings of the palace. It was rested and a replacement was found for it.
Arjuna, who was earlier carrying the howdah in the past and his successor in Abhimanyu was found in view of its age, is a 65-year-old male from Balle camp. It is the heaviest of all the Dasara elephants. It weighs around 5,800 kg to 6,000 kg. It is one of the tallest in the team standing at 2.88 metres.
Dhananjaya, Mahendra, Bheema and Gopi are the other tuskers in the squad. Dhananjaya is a 43-year-old elephant from Dubare while Mahendra is a 40-year-old tusker from Mattigodu and Bheema is also from Mattigodu. Bheema is 23-years-old.
Prashanth, Sugreeva, and Rohit are the remaining males in the squad and Lakshmi and Hiranya are the other female elephants in the team.
Four elephants are participating in this year’s Dasara for the first time. They are Lakshmi (52) from Doddaharave, Hiranya (46) from Ramapura, Rohit (21) from Ramapura and Kanjan (24) from Dubare.
Out of 14 jumbos which have been finalized for Dasara duty, nine are in the first batch and the remaining five will directly join the first batch later in Mysuru.
The first batch of jumbos includes Abhimanyu, Bheema, Gopi, Arjuna, Dhananjaya, Varalakshmi, Vijaya, Mahendra and Kanjan.
