Mysuru: There are more than 20 people involved in tying golden howdah and gaadi (elephant cart) to elephant Arjuna. All put together howdah elephant Arjuna carried nearly 1000 kg on its back.
To tie golden howdah and gaadi to Arjuna, mahouts and Kavadis, irrespective of any Dasara elephant, senior veterinary Dr. Nagaraj, Akram and Appaji always join hands. After taking howdah elephant for a bath for nearly 15 minutes, it is straight away brought to the place where the gaadi is tied. The experienced mahouts including few retired ones involve in tying the gaadi followed by golden howdah successfully.
For tying gaadi which is a platform for keeping the golden thrown on top of howdah elephant Arjuna, the forest personnel along with other senior experts take all sorts of measures. They took nearly 30 minutes for tying and the elephant was brought near the entrance of the residential palace where the golden throne was mounted on its back. Here also the forest department staff went all out in its efforts to tie the golden howdah perfectly so that there is no problem or tilting throughout the Dasara procession which is nearly a 5 km journey from Mysuru Palace to Bannimantap Ground. As usual, this year also the golden howdah was tied perfectly.