'Nada Habba' Mysuru Dasara 2022 inaugurated by Prez Draupadi Murmu

Bengaluru, Sep 26: President Draupadi Murmu inaugurated 'Nada Habba Dasara 2022' atop Chamundi Hill here on Monday. The President inaugurated the festivities by showering flowers on the idol of goddess Chamundeshwari, the presiding deity of Mysuru royals, amid chanting of vedic hymns, at the premises of Chamundeshwari temple atop the Chamundi Hills here.

Murmu, who will be the first President took part in Mysuru Dasara, will be accompanied by Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, and several of his cabinet colleagues among others at the inaugural.

The President is also likely to visit the Chamundeshwari temple and offer prayers to the goddess, who is referred to as "Naada Devate" (state deity), ahead of the inaugural.

The 10-days event, like every year, is likely to showcase Karnataka's cultural heritage resplendent with folk art forms and attracts large crowds and tourists. It was scaled down for the last two years due to the pandemic.

290 cultural programmes lined up for Dasara 2022

CM Bommai earlier announcing that the Dasara this time will be "grand" had said, the festival will be used to promote tourism. It will be a combination of tradition, new things and will be meaningful.

Various programmes will be held during these auspicious days of Navrathri, during which the palace, major streets turnarounds or circles and buildings of Mysuru will be beautified by illuminating them with lights, fondly known a "Deepalankaara".

In all, nearly 290 cultural programmes will be held during Dasara this year at eight venues - Amba Vilas Palace, Jaganmohan Palace, Kalamandira, Ganabharathi, Nadabrahma Sangeetha Sabha, Kirurangamandira, Chikkagadiyara and Town Hall.

Also, dozens of events that attract people like- food mela, flower show, cultural programmes, farmers' Dasara, women's Dasara, Yuva Dasara, children's Dasara, poetry recital are also conducted.

However, cultural events in front of the illuminated Ambavilasa palace will be the main attraction, as it will be the main venue for performance by acclaimed artists from both state and national level. This is the very venue where the Chief Minister will confer the prestigious State Sangeetha Vidwan Award.

From Jumbo Savari to Mysuru Dasara Exhibition

Other than these events, the famous Dasara procession (Jumbo Savari), Torch Light Parade, and Mysuru Dasara Exhibition are the ones that attract a large number of people, turning the city into a carnival of sorts, during the ten day.

The Navaratri include various decorations and celebrations in households across Mysuru and surrounding areas, namely Gombe habba (arrangement of traditional dolls), Saraswati Pooja, Ayudha Pooja and Durga Pooja, among others.

While at the palace too, the royal family will celebrate the festivities as per their traditions.

The Navaratri celebrations at the palace include several rituals, most remarkably Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the scion of Mysuru royal family, dressed in grand attire, conducting Khasagi durbar (private durbar) by ascending the golden throne, amid chanting of vedic hymns.

'Vajramushti Kalaga', a special duel between Jetties (wrestlers) armed with a 'Vajramushti' or a knuckle-duster, is also part of the celebrations at the palace.

About Jamboo savaari

World famous 'Jambusavaari', a procession of caparisoned elephants carrying the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwai in a golden Howdah on Vijayadashmi on the 10th day of the festival, marks the culmination of celebrations on October 5.

The procession will start from the Amba Vilas Palace premises, after the Nandi Flag Puja at the auspicious Makara Lagna from 2.36 pm to 2.50 pm and offering floral showers on Chamundeshwari placed in a golden Howdah by the Chief Minister and other dignitaries on October 5. It will end at Banni mantapa, after covering a distance of roughly 6-km.

Tableaus of different districts and cultural teams from across the state will add splendour to the procession.

Elephants, which were brought from their camps, are prepared for the procession by making them walk along the streets of the city, so that they get used to the crowd, and are also put to firecrackers and cannon tests to ensure that they don't get disturbed by the sound.

Elephant named 'Abhimanyu', who has been carrying the golden howdah since 2020, is likely to perform the duty this year too.

For the last two years, the procession was restricted to the Amba Vilas Palace premises, due to covid-19.

Dasara was celebrated by the rulers of the Vijayanagar empire and the tradition was inherited by the Wadiyars of Mysuru.

Festivities were first started in Mysuru by the Wadiyar King, Raja Wadiyar I in the year 1610. It became a private affair of the royal family following the abolition of the privy purse in 1971 and the discontinuation of the privileges of the erstwhile rulers.

However, a low-key Dasara used to be held on the initiative of the local people until the state government stepped in and the then Chief Minister D Devaraja Urs revived the Dasara celebrations in 1975, which is being followed till date.