ENARADA, Mysore, Aug 30 ,2013:
Amidst chanting of vedic hymns , armed salute was accorded to caparisoned first batch of elephants participating in the dasara festival when they made a grand entry into the mysore palace grounds today.
Six elephants were taken through the main thoroughfares of the city from the Aranya bhavan.
They entered the palace through the Jayamartanda gate, where they were given a ceremonial and traditional reception.
As the herd, comprising Arjuna, Gajendra, Balarama, Abhimanyu, Sarala, Varalakshmi, sauntered through the main roads, motorists made way for the royal convoy of a different kind, and the public took time off to get a glimpse of Balarama and company, who seemed to relish every minute of the attention being lavished on them and raised their trunk as though in appreciation of the gesture.
With the arrival of elephants the activities for the preparations of the dasara festivities began today and necessary arrangements would be made to make this year dasara festivites more attrractive and grand .
The second batch of eight more elephants will arrive during third week next month.
All the elephants would be housed in the palace courtyard and would undergo rehearsal before world famous Dasara procession on October 14.
