The grand procession starts at Mysuru Palace and ends at Bannimantap.
Nada Habba, also known as Mysuru Dasara, is considered a state festival of Karnataka. It is a 10-day festival in Mysuru and is a part of Dasara festival. It is celebrated by the Royal Family of Mysuru. The grand procession starts at Mysuru Palace and ends at Bannimantap. Last year, the procession included 49 tableaux, 91 cultural troupes, nine elephants and a 750-kg golden howdah. Held at Doddakere Maidana, this grand event features stalls from businesses, government departments and the public and private sectors. The initial preparations for the Mysuru Dasara festival have already started. The elephants for the grand procession have already entered the palace premises. Now, the training for the elephants has started step by step. Dasara elephants were trained at Rajbeedi, where the Jambu Savari runs in Mysuru.
This year, a total of 18 elephants will be taking part in the procession while Tusker Abhimanyu will carry Golden Howdah. The training for the first team of elephants of Dusara Guards, which arrived in Mysore via Gajapayan, has started. The exercise, which was confined to the palace premises for the past couple of days, is now open for the spectators as it was held on the roads.
On the first day itself, eight elephants walked in full size up to Bannimantap on the Jumboo Sawari route. Tusker Kanjan didn’t participate due to leg pain. Elephants Abhimanyu, Ekalavya, Dhananjaya, Varalakshmi, Bhima, Lakshmi, Rohit and Gopi were involved in the training.
The training of the elephants was started after the traditional worship on the premises of Mysore Palace. It left from the Balarama gate of the palace at 7 am and passed through KR Circle, Saynajirao Road, KR Hospital, Highway Circle and reached the Panjina parade ground at Bannimantapa at 8.25 am.
The history of Mysuru Dasara is connected with the history of the city of Mysuru, which dates back to the time of the Vijayanagara Empire in mediaeval South India. Founded in the fourteenth century by two brothers named Harihara and Bukka, the festival was then called Mahanavami in this state.
