Mysuru Dasara 2026: Prashantha to carry golden howdah as Abhimanyu, 60, steps aside

Prashantha, a 54-year-old tusker from the Dubare elephant camp, will carry the golden howdah bearing the idol of goddess Chamundeshwari in the Mysuru Dasara Vijayadashami procession, the Jamboo Savari, on Wednesday, 21 October 2026. The choice was made public on Wednesday, 14 October, after the Karnataka Forest Department finished 45 days of training with this year's Dasara elephants and fixed the role of each animal. Prashantha takes over from Abhimanyu, who carried the howdah for the past six years and has been relieved of the duty this year because he has reached the age of 60. Abhimanyu will still walk in the procession, leading it as the Nishaane elephant.

The Jamboo Savari is the high point of Mysuru Dasara. On Vijayadashami, a single elephant carries the golden howdah through the city in a procession watched by very large crowds. Choosing that elephant is one of the most closely followed decisions of the Dasara season, because the animal must stay calm amid crowds and noise while carrying a load of about 750 kg.

The change also reflects a care rule for working elephants. The forest department relieved Abhimanyu of the howdah because of his age, not because of any failure on his part. Keeping him in the procession as the lead Nishaane elephant lets a respected veteran stay in the ceremony without bearing the 750-kg howdah. Prashantha is himself a veteran of the festival: reports say he has taken part in Dasara for 16 to 18 years, which gives him long experience of the crowds and noise he will face on 21 October.

The Dasara elephants come to Mysuru from forest camps weeks before the festival to train for the procession. This year's 45 days of training ended with the forest department fixing every animal's role: Prashantha for the howdah, Dhananjaya as reserve, Cauvery and Roopa as escorts, and Abhimanyu and Gopi in the lead positions. Splitting the duties this way means no single animal is irreplaceable on the day.

The festival itself opened on Sunday, 11 October, when Gavi mutt seer Abhinava Gavisiddeshwara Swami and Chief Minister D K Shivakumar inaugurated it atop Chamundi Hill. Mysuru city police have announced a large deployment for the festival, including 5,161 police officers and staff, 33 platoons of the Karnataka State Reserve Police and 1,500 home guards. Police have also registered a case over an anonymous email received on 10 October that threatened to disrupt the celebrations; the sender has not yet been traced. The Indian Air Force's Surya Kiran aerobatic team is scheduled to perform over the city on 18 and 19 October.

Short-term: For the next week, attention in Mysuru turns to the final preparations for the procession. Visitors planning to watch the procession on 21 October should expect heavy crowds, police restrictions on climbing trees and old buildings along the route, and higher hotel prices in the last days of the festival.

Long-term: The handover marks a generational change in the Dasara elephant team. As the senior elephants age out of the heaviest duty, the forest department needs a steady line of trained successors, and Dhananjaya's role as reserve signals who may be next.

Who is affected: Devotees and tourists attending Mysuru Dasara, the mahouts who care for the elephants, the forest department, and Mysuru's hotels, traders and transport operators, who depend on the festival crowds.

Questions and Answers