Mysuru: Gajapayana, the traditional march of the elephants from the jungle camps to Mysuru for Dasara will be held on August 12 at the Nagapura camp near Hunsur.
District Minister H C Mahadevappa will flag off the march. The first batch of eight Dasara elephants will reach Mysuru at Aranya Bhavan on the same day later on August 14 and they will be welcomed to Mysuru palace. District administration including forest department has planned to organise Gajapayana in a grand manner. They have planned to have cultural programmes including few from tribals.
Speaking to Newskarnataka, Yedukundalu, DCF (Wildlife) said, “The first batch of eight elephants are howdah elephant Arjuna, Abhimayu, Gajendra, Balarama, Varalakshmi, Vijaya, Cauvery and Bheema. The second batch of remaining seven elephants will arrive before August 20. Earlier, the district administration had planned Gajapayana on August 14 but now the authorities have advanced the programme to August 12.”
Forest department is also coming out with a short film on elephants and mahouts.
