• Gajapayana of Dasara elephants from Veeranahosahalli at Nagarahole Forest to Mysuru on Aug. 21 at 10.10 am
• Nada Habba to begin on Oct. 3 by offering puja to Goddess Chamundeshwari at 9.15 am atop Chamundi Hill
• Jumboo Savari to start from Mysore Palace on Oct. 12, with puja to Nandi Dhwaja between 1.41 pm and 2.10 pm

Bengaluru: With the dams across the State brimming with water level reaching maximum capacity following copious rains in the last two months, the effervescent State Government has decided to celebrate the forthcoming Nada Habba Mysuru Dasara festival on a grand scale.

The meeting of Dasara High Power Committee chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah held at Vidhana Soudha, here on Monday, arrived on this consensus. The Dasara festivities will begin on Oct. 3 by offering puja to Goddess Chamundeshwari at 9.15 am atop Chamundi Hill and concludes with Jumboo Savari on Vijayadashami day on Oct. 12. The Jumboo Savari will begin from Mysore Palace premises, with puja to Nandi Dhwaja between 1.41 pm and 2.10 pm and the floral tributes to the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari, kept in Golden Howdah mounted on the elephant, is scheduled at 4 pm. As a prelude to Dasara, Gajapayana, the traditional sojourn of first batch of jumbos from Veeranahosahalli in Hunsur at Nagarahole is scheduled on Aug. 21 at 10.10 am.

Following the meeting, Siddaramaiah announced the decision on grand Dasara celebration, in a three-part message on his X (formerly Twitter) account stating that following good spell of rainfall, farmers are happy, with remote chances of drinking water related issues too. In this wake, let’s celebrate Dasara in a grand and meaningful way. The previous year Dasara was a low scale event, owing to drought situation, but spent Rs. 30 crore on organising the annual festival. This year too, the required funds will be sanctioned on the basis of the report of Dasara Committee, the Chief Minister assured.

However, during the meeting, no decision has been taken on the dignitary who will be inaugurating Dasara. The decision in this regard will be taken by the committee in the coming days.

The festive atmosphere should be not just restricted to Mysuru, but should be extended to neighbouring districts like Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Kodagu and Hassan, laying emphasis on attracting tourists, the Chief Minister is learnt to have issued directions to Officers on these lines.

21-day illumination

The Dasara illumination this year will be a 21-day spectacle, with CM issuing directions to Officers in this regard. Like previous year, when illumination was restricted to Navarathri, but was extended by a week, this year too it will be extended further.

In view of 50th year celebrations of renaming the State as Karnataka, under the banner of Karnataka Sambhrama, that stretches till November, Dasara events will be conceptualised on the similar theme, setting aside the old system and giving impetus to new.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be requested for organising Dasara Air Show, for longer hours in Mysuru, he said.