Mysuru: Dasara elephant Kanjan has been selected as Pattada Aane (Royal Elephant) while Bheema has been selected as Nishane Aane (Lead Elephant) for the rituals conducted by the Mysore Royal Family at the Palace during Navarathri, said DCF (Wildlife) Dr. I.B. Prabhu Gowda.

Navarathri is being celebrated from Oct. 3 to 12, during which the scion of Mysore Royal Family Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, who is also the Mysuru-Kodagu MP, will ascend the gem-studded Golden Throne and hold the Private Durbar.

Also, the Royal Family will be holding various rituals during which the Royal Elephant, Royal Cow, Royal Camel and women carrying Kalashas will proceed from Kodi Someshwara Temple till the Kannadi Thotti carrying the God, which is a tradition.

In this backdrop, 25-year-old Kanjan and 24-year-old Bheema have been selected for the Palace Navarathri rituals.

Seven elephants inspected

Member of the erstwhile Mysore Royal Family Pramoda Devi Wadiyar yesterday conducted the process to select the Royal Elephant. Following her request, five male Dasara jumbos (Bheema, Kanjan, Sugreeva, Gopi and Ekalavya) and two female elephants (Lakshmi and Hiranya) were brought near Kannadi Thotti. Pramoda Devi, who inspected the elephants, selected Kanjan and Bheema for the Palace rituals.

Kanjan: This 25-year-old male elephant, which is participating in Dasara for the second time, is a calm-natured jumbo. He was captured in 2014 at Yelasuru Forest region in Hassan and was tamed at Dubare Elephant Camp.

After Kanjan was domesticated, he began to participate in tiger and elephant operations. In 2023, he participated for the first time in Mysuru Dasara and this year, apart from taking part in Jumboo Savari, Kanjan will be donning the role of the Royal Elephant with J.D. Vijay as his Mahout and Kiran as Kavadi.

Bheema: Participating for the third time in Dasara this year, 24-year-old Bheema is a soft- natured tusker, who was found separated from his mother at Bheemanakatte Forest region in Nagarahole Reserve Forest in 2000 when he was just three-months-old.

He was rescued and tamed at Mathigodu Elephant Camp. When he was 17 years old, he took part in Dasara for the first time in 2017. In 2018, he was seriously injured in a wild elephant attack and later recovered.

This year, he will play the role of Nishane Aane for the rituals conducted at the Palace apart from participating in Jumboo Savari. Gundanna is his mahout and Nanjundaswamy is his Kavadi.