Mysuru: With a team of 14 elephants, led by Captain Abhimanyu, gearing up for this year’s Dasara festival from Oct. 3 to 12, the senior-most elephant Varalakshmi has been tasked with supervising and guiding her teammates.

While 21-year-old Rohit is the youngest of group, Varalakshmi, at 68, is the eldest. Although officially retired, forest officials have refrained from assigning her active duties. Instead, due to her seniority, Varalakshmi has been overseeing the younger  elephants at the camp.

Varalakshmi was brought from the Bheemanakatte Elephant Camp to Mysore Palace on Aug. 21 with the first batch of elephants. Besides a weight check, she has not been participating in the rehearsals or leaving the Palace premises.

At the camp, she monitors the other elephants under the guidance of mahout J.K. Ravi and Kavadi K.S. Lava. The Forest Department regularly appoints one of its senior female elephants to watch rest of the herd.

In previous years, senior elephants like Sarala, Vijaya, Kaveri, Durgaparameshwari and Varalakshmi were part of the Dasara Jumbo team. While some served as Kumki elephants, younger ones like Chaitra often took the second Kumki role. Now, Sarala, Vijaya and Kaveri, all in their 60s, are being cared for at their respective camps.

Sadly, Durgaparameshwari passed away last year due to illness. After assessing Varalakshmi’s health, the department brought her to Mysuru. Although she will not participate in Dasara procession, her role in overseeing other elephants is crucial for ensuring smooth conduct of Jumboo Savari.

Varalakshmi, the 68-year-old elephant, has been fully retired from participating in the Dasara procession. However, as the senior-most elephant, she remains part of the elephant team, tasked with controlling and managing the behaviour of other elephants. Varalakshmi, like the other Dasara jumbos, is being provided with a nutritious diet to maintain her health, said I.B. Prabhu Gowda, DCF (Wildlife).