Ekalavya (centre) carried the 750-kg weight with ease during the Jumboo Savari training held yesterday. He was accompanied by Roopa and Chaitra as Kumki elephants.

Mysuru: With just a month left for this year’s Jumboo Savari, the Forest Department is yet to finalise on the Howdah elephant. The Dept. has been conducting weight training exercises regularly to finalise on the Howdah elephant post retirement of Abhimanyu, which carried the 750-kg Golden Howdah for six consecutive years from 2020 to 2025.

The Forest Department, as part of its experiment, yesterday conducted the weight training exercise on Ekalavya by installing a total of weight of 750-kg on its back including 350-kg sand bags. Ekalavya, accompanied by Roopa and Chaitra as Kumki elephants, walked with ease not showing any signs of discomfort on the 5-km stretch of Raja Marga from Balarama Gate (North Gate) of Mysore Palace till the Torchlight Parade Grounds on Bannimantap.

This year, Ekalavya has been selected by Mysore Royal Family to fulfil the duties as ‘Pattada Nishane Aane’ (Royal Lead Elephant) during Navaratri celebrations to be held at the Palace.

Meanwhile, a total of 12 Dasara jumbos took part in the Jumboo Savari rehearsals held yesterday.  Earlier, as part of the tradition, the elephants were taken near the residence of Mysore Royal Family after the gaadi-namda were tied on Ekalavya in front of Someshwara Temple at the Palace premises.  Later, the jumbos walked on the Raja Marga passing through Chamaraja Circle, K.R. Circle, Sayyaji Rao Road, Government Ayurveda Medical College, RMC Circle, Bamboo Bazar, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Circle, Nelson Mandela Road, before reaching the Torchlight Parade Grounds in Bannimantap.

 As usual, a large number of people had gathered along the procession route to witness the majestic walk of the jumbos. People cheered, clicked photographs and recorded videos on their mobiles phones as jumbos walked past them.

Earlier, the Forest Department had conducted the weight training exercise on Mahendra, Dhananjaya and Prashantha before Ekalavya. All four elephants carried the weight successfully and with Sugreeva also joining camp, the Forest Department is expected to test the jumbo in the coming days.

With five elephants in the race to be the next Howdah elephant, the Forest Department is sure to have tough time in deciding on the Abhimanyu’s successor.