Mysuru Dasara begins on Sunday with an 11-day programme that will bring religious ceremonies, cultural performances and the Vijayadashami procession to venues across the city, even as the festival is being held amid severe drought conditions in the state.
The city has been decorated with illuminated streets, junctions and public spaces ahead of the celebrations. The lighting displays across major roads and traffic circles are intended to welcome visitors and form part of the city’s public presentation during one of Karnataka’s largest annual festivals.
Abhinava Gavisiddheshwara Swamiji of the Koppal Gavi Math reached Mysuru on Saturday to inaugurate the festival. Additional Deputy Commissioner R. Aishwarya welcomed him on behalf of the district administration. The seer later visited the Suttur Math in Nanjangud taluk, where he was received in a ceremonial procession.
The formal inauguration will take place at Chamundi Hills between 11.50 am and 12.13 pm on Sunday with the first worship of Chamundeshwari. Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and elected representatives are scheduled to attend. The choice of a seer to inaugurate the festival marks a return to the practice after 2012, while the government has invited more than 200 religious leaders for the celebrations.
The opening day will see 11 programmes begin across the city. The Chief Minister is scheduled to inaugurate cultural events at 7 pm at the Ambavilas Palace and other venues. These events will add activity to the palace precinct and the city’s wider public and cultural spaces during the festival period.
The royal family’s private Dasara celebrations will also begin at the palace on Sunday. Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar will conduct the 12th edition of the private durbar as part of the Sharannavarathri observances.
The festival’s main public event, the Vijayadashami procession, or Jamboo Savari, is scheduled for October 21. It will begin with the Nandidhwaja puja at the Balarama Gate of the Ambavilas Palace between 1.36 pm and 1.56 pm. The Chief Minister is expected to formally launch the procession inside the palace premises between 4.10 pm and 4.35 pm.
The celebrations will conclude at Bannimantap with the torchlight parade on the evening of October 21. The schedule places the district administration, cultural venues, the palace authorities and public-event organisers at the centre of a coordinated festival operation across Mysuru. Further programmes are scheduled at multiple venues throughout the 11-day event.
