Mysuru palace cannons offered puja ahead of Dasara

The antique cannons housed in the Mysuru palace were offered puja on Friday, ahead of their use in the familiarisation exercise for Dasara elephants.

As part of the custom, a 21-cannon salute will be fired during the Jamboo Savari soon after the grand procession is flagged off from the palace premises on Vijayadashami day.

To acclimatise the elephants to the loud sound, the police conduct cannon-firing drills on three occasions in the run-up to the festivities. The City Armed Reserve personnel of the police department are in charge of handling the cannons, and the firing exercises are usually held at Doddakere Maidan. The Dasara elephants, accompanied by their mahouts and kavadis, are stationed nearby during these drills to help them adapt to the booming sounds.

Mysuru Police Commissioner Seema Latkar, Deputy Police Commissioner Bindumani R.N., Deputy Conservator of Forests Prabhu Gowda, and Palace Board Deputy Director T.S. Subramanya were among those present when the cannons were offered puja at the palace.