Cannon firing drill from September 1st week

Mysore/Mysuru: District Minister S.T. Somashekar performed traditional puja to the 11 Palace cannons in Mysore Palace premises yesterday afternoon. These cannons are used to give 21-round cannon salute before the commencement of Jumboo Savari on Vijayadashami Day (Oct. 5).

At a programme held near Aane Baagilu in Mysore Palace premises, Priest S.V. Prahallad Rao performed Ganapathi and Vijaya Ganapathi pujas and other rituals following which the District Minister along with Deputy Commissioner Dr. Bagadi Gautham and City Police Commissioner Dr. Chandragupta performed puja.

On Vijayadasami Day, the Golden Howdah will be mounted on Howdah Elephant Abhimanyu and the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari will be placed inside the Golden Howdah. During the showering of flowers to the idol and the Golden Howdah, the Police Band will play the National Anthem in three phases and 21 rounds of cannon salute will be done using seven cannons.

Dry rehearsal from Wednesday: The ‘dry talim’ or rehearsal with unloaded cannons will commence from Wednesday in the Palace premises for which 4-5 personnel from ‘Pirangi Dala’ will be deployed for each cannon.

To acclimatise Dasara elephants and horses from the Mounted Police force to cannon firing sound during Dasara procession, these cannons will be fired for three days during the rehearsals performed 10 days before the grand finale.

Speaking on the occasion, the District Minister said that traditional puja has been performed and the ‘Pirangi Dala’ led by city Top Cop Dr. Chandragupta will undertake the firing drill. The responsibility of the 21 rounds of cannon salute has been given to the ‘Pirangi Dala,’ he added.

Dr. Chandragupta said that the cannon firing drill will be held from the first week of September. There is a need to acclimatise Dasara elephants to the booming sound of cannons so that they (elephants) do not panic on hearing sounds during Jumboo Savari.

“The same cannons will be used for firing during Torchlight Parade also for which expert staff will be deployed,” the Top Cop said.

Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) Dr. V. Karikalan, DCPs Pradeep Gunti (Law and Order) and M.S. Geetha Prasanna (Crime and Traffic), Mysore Palace Board Deputy Director T.S. Subramanya, Range Forest Officer (RFO) Santosh Hugar, Zoo Authority of Karnataka (ZAK) Chairman M. Shivakumar and others were present.