The Dasara elephants
Weeks before the festival, a herd of elephants walks out of the forests of Nagarhole and Bandipur and into the Palace — the Gaja Payana. They are the heart of Dasara, and the lead among them will carry the goddess on the last day.
Gaja Payana
Gaja, elephant; payana, journey. The Maharajas began the tradition: the elephants chosen for Dasara would walk the whole route from their forest camps to the city, flagged off by the king himself after a puja, greeted in every village with music and food. Today the ceremonial start is the same — a puja at the Veeranahosahalli gate of Nagarhole, the first elephants garlanded and fed — but after a short ceremonial walk the herd travels to Mysuru by truck, so no animal arrives tired.
- Flagged off at Veeranahosahalli, Nagarhole
- Two batches, roughly a week apart
- A ceremonial welcome at the Palace’s Jayamarthanda Gate
Six weeks of preparation
Once inside the Palace grounds the elephants move onto a special diet — a high-calorie, protein-rich mix of rice, ragi, jaggery, coconut, horse gram and green fodder — to build the strength the procession needs. Every morning they are walked through the city along the procession route so that the crowds, the bands and the traffic become familiar. The lead elephant carries a sandbag howdah of steadily increasing weight until it can bear the full 750 kilograms without strain.
- A dedicated forest-department veterinary team
- Daily walks along the procession route
- Weight training with a sandbag howdah
Elephants of Dasara
The roster changes each year as the Forest Department selects animals for temperament and fitness. Roles are confirmed after training.
Abhimanyu
The captain of the herd and, since 2020, the bearer of the golden howdah. Calm under fireworks, steady in a crowd — the temperament the role demands.
Bhima
One of the two escort elephants that flank the howdah; a former camp kumki with years of procession experience.
Dhananjaya
The second escort, and the reserve for the howdah should the captain be unavailable.
Gopalaswamy
Carries the ceremonial standard at the head of the procession.
Kanjan
The ceremonial elephant that leads the herd through the Palace gates.
Lakshmi
One of the cows that steady the herd; walks in the second rank of the procession.
Varalakshmi
A newer member of the Dasara herd, in her early years of training.
Ekalavya
A tusker of the second rank, known for an easy temperament with the crowds.
The roster above illustrates the typical Dasara herd. The Forest Department confirms the year’s elephants, their roles and the howdah bearer after the training period; this page is updated when the official list is published.
The howdah elephant
The elephant that carries the goddess is chosen years in advance and trained for the role over several Dasaras. The requirements are precise: a tusker of steady temperament, a broad and level back, a calm reaction to noise and fireworks, and the strength to carry three-quarters of a tonne for five kilometres at walking pace. Arjuna carried the howdah for a decade; Abhimanyu has carried it since 2020.
- Selected years ahead, trained over several festivals
- Steady under fireworks and crowds
- Reserve elephant trained in parallel
