Bheema is the 'heavyweight' at Dasara jumbo, Abhimanyu second

Deccan Herald

11-08-2025

Mysuru: The first batch of nine Dasara elephants were taken out in a procession to the lorry weighing bridge station, for weight checking on Monday. Jumbo Bheema weighed the highest at 5,465 kg, followed by Abhimanyu, who has carried the golden howdah for five years, with 5,360 kg. The Forest department checks the weight of the jumbos once they come from the forest camps, before beginning their training, to understand the kind of diet to be provided to each elephant. The special diet will begin from Tuesday (August 11), along with training, according to DCF (wildlife) I B Prabhu Gowda. .People enthralled to see Dasara elephants taken in procession from Aranya Bhavan to Mysuru Palace.It is said that this is for the first time in the recent past that the Dasara jumbos had to stay for long on the premises of the Aranya Bhavan, after they arrived at the heritage city of Mysuru. The pachyderms arrived at Mysuru after the Gajapayana event at Veeranahosahalli, Hunsur taluk, on August 4. They are usually sent to Mysuru Palace, after a couple of days. However, this year, due to some reasons, the jumbos were sent from Aranya Bhavan on August 10, after their stay for six days. However, they were made to walk around 500 metres on Aranaya Bhavan premises, twice a day, as a warm up exercise..The Dasara jumbos usually used to arrive in Mysuru around 50 to 60 days before Dasara inauguration. However, this year, the Dasara inauguration is on September 22, and the jumbos have just around 42 days for various training.Weight checkThe nine jumbos were brought to Sairam Electronic Weigh Bridge by walk from the Palace on Monday morning and their weight was checked.From the day the pachyderms arrived in Mysuru, they have been attracting a large number of people, who are awestruck by their majestic march on the roads of the heritage city. Monday also, people stopped to have a glimpse of the jumbos, taking pictures and selfies, and recording video. The jumbos walked for three kilometres from the Palace to the weighbridge on Dhanvantri Road. Several vendors offered strings of flowers and tulsi for the jumbos, and the mahouts responded by decorating the jumbos with flowers.Abhimanyu, who was in top of the list in weight checking during last year's Dasara, was 5,360 kg. However, it was the Bheema that weighed the highest this year, with 5,465 kg.Dhananjaya, who has been participating in the Dasara for the last nine years, is in the third place with 5,310 kg. He was followed by Ekalavya at 5,305 kg, Mahendra at 5,210 kg, Prashantha at 5,110 kg, and Kanjan at 4,880 kg. The she elephants Lakshmi weighed 3,730 kg and Kaveri 3,010 kg.According to DCF I B Prabhu Gowda, all jumbos are healthy, and the authorities would begin providing nutritious food to the jumbos based on their weight. It would be discussed with the veterinarian and experts and the diet started immediately. Among the seven male elephants, six jumbos have crossed 5,000 kg, he said.