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Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa will inaugurate the Jumbo Savari after offering pooja to the ‘Nandi Dwaja’ (Nandi Flag). The Savari will be performed at Makara Lagna between 2.59 pm and 3.20 pm.
The Chief Minister and 6 others will also offer flowers to the Chamundeswari on a specially decorated elephant at Kumbha Lagna between 3.40 pm and 4.30 pm.
The elephant ‘Abhimanyu’ will be leading the Savari parade. This will be his first time. He will be flanked by ‘Kaveri’ and ‘Vijay’ and will be followed by ‘Gopi’ and ‘Nishane.’
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All the ceremonies will be conducted in a simple manner due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For this reason, only 300 people will be allowed to view the Jumbo Savari.
The entire Dasara ceremony will be telecast on television and will be live-streamed on the Department of Information and Public Relation’s Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/mysorevarthe and YouTube channel – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvhg&sbsHV‰ybFvK6Iu7HLoaOmh3yCcVC.
This will not be the first time the Mysuru Dasara is being celebrated in a simple manner in its 410 year-long history.
In 1893, the then King of the Mysuru Kingdom Chamarajendra Wodeyar celebrated the Dasara without any grandeur as the kingdom was reeling under severe famine. King Chamarajendra confined the ceremonies to the palace premises and performed a simple ritual at the ‘benni’ tree near the Bhairaveshwara temple.
After 1893, the Mysuru Dasara celebrations were muted for an additional 12 times.
In 1970, after the then Central government abolished the privy purses of the rulers of the erstwhile Princely States, it was decided to abolish the Mysuru Dasara celebrations. However, Irani, Jayadevaraja Urs and others raised funds and organised a simple celebration.
In 1972 and 73 the Jumbo Savari had to be cancelled due to droughts and in 1974 the entire celebrations were cancelled due to the death of Jayachamaraja Wodeyar. The celebrations had to be cancelled again in 1977 due to massive student protests in and around Mysuru.
The celebrations were not held in 1983, 1992, and 1997 due to Statewide drought. Additionally, in 2000 when forest brigand Veerappan had abducted Kannada movie star Dr Rajkumar, the celebrations were reduced.
In 2001, in wake of the Gujarat earthquake, the celebrations were organised in a simple manner as also in 2002 due to droughts.
The last time celebrations were less grandeur was in 2015 as thousands of farmers had committed suicide due to droughts.