All for a howdah

A few days ago, the Karnataka High Court did not interfere with the issue of one of the elephants during Dasara carrying the Ambari or Golden Howdah.

The Ambari Anne or elephant carries the howdah with the idol of Godddess Chamundi on Vijayadashami, the last day of the Dasara. This is called the Jumbo Saavari.

The golden howdah weighs upwards of 750 kilograms and it is taken out only during the Dasara.

During the rest of the year, the howdah is placed in the Mysore Palace and unlike the Golden Throne, it can be viewed by visitors. The website of the Palace Board says that the core of the Howdah is a wooden structure in the form of a mantapa which is covered with 80 kilograms of  Gold Sheets.

These gold sheets have been intricately designed  and they comprise of scrolls, foliage and flowers. The thread is made from the thinnest gold or silver wire.
A few decades earlier, the last Maharaja of Mysore, Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar used to sit in this howdah and participate in the Dasara procession. After his death, the Government decided to place an idol of Chamundi or Chamundeshwari in the howdah.

When the Maharaja sat in the howdah, it had two lights-red and green. These lights were battery operated and the Maharaja used them to control the pace of the Vijayadashami procession.

Thus, this tradition continues to this day but Nature lovers and wildlife enthusiasts had objected to the heavy howdah being used. They had suggested to the Government to use a lighter replica, which could be made of wood.

They felt that carrying the 750 kg howdah with the added weight of another 150 kgs would be a burden on the elephant. This, they said, amounted to cruelty. They had first represented to the Government to use a lighter howdah.

The State Cabinet, headed by the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah discussed the issue and rejected the suggestion. It also rejected the suggestion of the Elephant Task Force, which too had recommended reducing the weight of the howdah.

The Cabinet also did not accept the Task Force’s proposal to put in place a Karnataka Elephant Expert Group within the State Wildlife Board mandated with planning, advising and assisting in elephant conservation management in the State

The nature lovers then moved the High Court. Their point was that the elephant always did not carry the howdah. Several decades ago, the elephants pulled a cart on which the howdah was placed.

The Law Minister, T B Jayachandra, has gone on record saying that carrying the golden howdah during Mysore Dasara procession has sentimental value to the people. Besides the elephant carrying the howdah is well trained and its diet is strictly monitored.

There is no doubt that the  Jamboo Savari on Sunday will be the prime attraction of the Dasara. It marks the grand finale of the 10-day Dasara festivities.

The elephant carrying the golden howdah will be accompanied by eleven other caparisoned elephants.

Historians and art lovers are not sure about the exact origin of the howdah and its antiquity. However, we know that the last Maharaja to sit in the golden howdah was Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar in 1969.

When the Dasara festivities were revived by the State Government after the death of the Maharaja, it decided to place the idol of Chamundi in the golden howdah on the caparisoned elephant.

Incidentally, the earliest representation of the Dasara is depicted in a mural is at the Jaganmohan Palace where the Maharaja is seated in a wooden chariot drawn by pairs of elephants. This mural has a caption saying Vijayadashamiya Jamboo Savari and it shows the procession during the tenure of Krishnaraja Wodeyar III. Therefore, it is believed that it was this Maharaja who later in his reign used elephants for the Jamboo Savari.

Balarama in a book

The Dasara elephants had never had it so good. Even as they are being fed royally and taken excellent care of, animal lovers and environmentalists have raised a hue and cry about the huge weight in the form of the 750 kilogram golden howdah  that the main elephant has to carry on Vijayadashami during the Dasara celebrations in Mysore.

The obvious choice of the Dasara committee would be to permit Balarama, the veteran 52-year-old elephant to carry the magnificent howdah.  

Few know that apart from being a celebrity, Balarama is one of the few elephants to have an entire book written about him. He is also one of the few animals having an active fan following in Mysore and even a Wikipedia entry.

Balarama now is kept in the stables behind the Mysore Palace and he is being readied to carry the howdah. Balarama is also the star of the book, “Balarama: A Royal elephant”, written by Ted and Betsy Lewin.

The book is also illustrated by the authors who are from America. The story of how the book came to be written makes for interesting reading.

Ted and Betsy Lewin visited Mysore in 1990s before and after Balarama became the “howdah elephant” to create this children’s book that was first published in 2009.

When the Lewins first came to Mysore, they were told that the howdah would be carried by Drona. They visited the elephant camp in the Karapur, where they were told about royal elephants, one of whom, Drona, the Ambari elephant, who carries the statue of the goddess Chamundeshwari in a procession during Vijayadashami to signal the end of Dasara. After meeting  imposing Drona, the Lewins decide to return to India  to see the festival for themselves and write about it.

When they returned, they were told that Drona had died and that Balarama would carry the howdah. Though Balarama became part of the Dasara procession since 1994, he started carrying the howdah in 1999. That was the year Drina, who had carried the howdah for 18 years, died of electrocution.

The Lewins then wrote and illustrated the children’s book. The narrative is in story form, and people and readers can learn about Dasara and elephants. There is enough background information about elephants, the royal elephants during the Dasara and a section on glossary and pronunciation guide.

Balarama weighed 4,900 kilograms last year at the time of the procession. This year, when he arrived in Mysore from his Nagarhole forest camp on September 16, his weight was 4,550 kgs. Not many noticed that Balarama stopped several times during the procession last year and had to be fed repeatedly and coaxed into finishing the walk.

Balarama’s mahout is Thimma, and he has been with pachyderm for 15 years and its mahout for an year. In case Balarama is unfit, Arjuna, who too is 52-years-old, will carry the howdah.

Apart from Balarama and Arjuna, two other elephants-Gajendra and Abhimanyu- are also being trained to carry the howdah. How? By making each elephant carry sandbags weighing 750 kgs and walking them through the streets of Mysore.   

However, the decision on which elephant will carry the howdah is taken just thirty minutes before the start of the procession.

On Vijayadashami, the procession starts at 4 p.m.,  and this is two hours after the Chief Minister participates in the puja. While the elephants manage the  five km route in about one-and-a-half hours during their practice marches, on the day of the procession, it will take them more than three hours.

The team stashes food at intervals on the route to allow the elephants to replenish themselves. The food packets are prepared on Ayudha puja day (a day before the procession) and they are  kept at four stops on the Dasara route. The stash comprises of  jaggery, dry grass, green grass, coconut and sugar cane.

The howdah elephant’s packet has glucose added to it, while a jeep that follows the elephant is also stocked with food.

The diet of the elephants is strictly monitored. Every morning and evening they are fed a special meal of lentils, boiled rice, wheat and butter apart from the grass, jaggery and coconut which they  are fed during the day.