Mysuru, Oct. 3 (MTY&VNS)- The traditional Vajramushti Kalaga, held as a part of Vijayadashami celebrations at Mysore Palace, featured Manjunath Jatti of Mysuru taking on Pradhyumna Jatti of Bengaluru and Raghavendra Jatti of Channapatna taking on Mahesh Jatti of Chamarajanagar, yesterday.

The jattis had to wait for some time as Yaduveer Wadiyar’s arrival to the Savari Thotti, venue for the Kalaga, was delayed as he was taking part in Navaratri rituals inside Mysore Palace. Once he arrived, he gave his signal to commence the kalaga.

The jattis wearing Vajramushti (knuckledusters) engaged in intense combat trying to dominate each other during which Bengaluru’s Pradyumna Jatti struck Manjunath Jatti, with blood oozing from his head marking the end of the kalaga. Following this, the wrestlers bowed before Yaduveer Wadiyar, who was watching the Kalaga. Later, he awarded ‘Bhakshis’ (monetary gifts) to the jattis.

Yaduveer performs Shami Puja

Soon after the Vajramushti Kalaga, Yaduveer, who went on ‘Vijaya Yatra’ from the Palace premises till Goddess Bhuvaneshwari Temple and performed ‘Shami Puja’ to Banni Tree which marked the end of Navaratri rituals of the Mysore Royal Family. The Royal Sword and other personal weapons, placed on the Golden Palanquin, were taken on a procession as part of Vijaya Yatra.

…but Jattis made to wait for 30 minutes

Jattis, who are an integral part of Dasara celebrations, were made wait for more than half-an-hour as they were not allowed near the wrestling akhada in the Mysore Palace premises to take part in Vajramushti Kalaga.

The four Jattis ­— Manjunath, Pradyumna, Mahesh and Raghavendra — were made to wait in front of Mysore Palace Board Office along with their ustads (masters) and family members before being allowed entry to the akhada.

Meanwhile, the ustads, who were in charge of bringing jattis to Vajramushti Kalaga expressed disappointment over the arrangements stating that despite them arriving at Palace on time they were made to wait causing unnecessary delay for the traditional Vajramushti Kalaga.