Mysore : With barricades erected on either side of the 5 km-long Royal Route from Mysore Palace to Bannimantap grounds and shamianas at all available spaces of the route, Mysore, the cultural capital of Karnataka, is all set for the Jumboo Savari on Oct. 14 in which howdah elephant Arjuna accompanied by 13 other Dasara elephants will carry the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari placed inside the 750 kg golden Ambari.

The Dasara procession route is also decorated with welcome arches being put up by State Bank of Mysore, which is celebrating its Centenary, at the entrance on Sayyaji Rao Road, CESC in front of K.R.Hospital, Dasara Procession Sub-Committee at the entrance to Devaraja Market and APMC at the APMC Circle on Sayyaji Rao Road.

Chief Minister Siddharamaiah, who will offer puja to Nandi Dhwaja at the Balarama gate of Mysore Palace between 1.12 pm and 1.40 pm in Makara Lagna will inaugurate the Jumboo Savari in front of the Palace between 1.55 pm and 2.23 pm in Makara Lagna by offering puja to the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari placed inside the Ambari mounted on Arjuna.

District Minister V. Sreenivasa Prasad, Public Works Minister Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa and scion of Mysore Royal Family Srikanata Datta Narasimharaja Wadiyar will be present among others.

Torchlight Parade: Later in the evening, Governor H. R. Bharadwaj will inspect a Guard of Honour and take the salute at the Torchlight Parade, the grand finale of the festivities, at the Bannimantap ground which will begin at 7 pm. Chief Minister Siddharamaiah and others Minsters will be present.

Dasara Souvenir: District Minister V. Sreenivasa Prasad will release the Dasara souvenir in the Palace premises at 7 pm tomorrow.

Ayudha Puja: Come Mahanavami, the ninth day of Dasara, all kinds of vehicles in almost all parts of the State will get a water wash and decorated with flowers being offered a puja.

Sale of Puja items: Undeterred by the spiralling prices of puja items like flowers, lemon, mango leaves, Banana stems, ashgourds (Boodhagumabala) which are essential items in the performance of Ayudha Puja, a large number of citizens today thronged Devaraja Market and other markets and streets where these items were on sale.

Besides Devaraja Market, these items are being sold at vantage points like Vani Vilas Market in Agrahara, Ballal Circle, Ramakrishnanagar Circle, Vivekanandanagar Circle, Sankranthi Circle, Abhishek Circle, Surya Bakery Circle, Mathru Mandali Circle, all the four sides of J.K. grounds and many other prominent localities in the city.

While a kilogram of bhoodagumbala was being sold at Rs. 45 to Rs. 60, a meter of Sevanthige flower was being sold at around Rs. 60 to Rs.70 as lemons were on sale at prices ranging from Rs. 6 to Rs. 10 depending on their sizes.

Rush at Sweetmeat Stalls: Many sweetmeat stalls like Mahalakshmi Sweets, Bombay Tiffanys, Guru Sweet Mart in the city had a roaring business as citizens thronged these stalls to purchase sweets which are normally distributed after the performance of puja.

Mad rush at Service Stations: All service stations in city had to work overtime to provide service (waterwash) to vehicles of all categories like Bikes, Cars, autos, lorries, tractors and other modes of transport which will be offered puja tomorrow.

Jumboo Savari rehearsal continues: In a bid to fine-tune elephants and horses taking part in the Jumboo Savari on Oct. 14, a full-fledged rehearsal of the inaugural ceremony was held inside the Palace premise this morning in which city Police Commissioner Dr. M.A. Saleem, astride a horse, participated along with Mounted Police Commandant P. Janardhan, Torchlight Parade Commander T.P. Shivakumar and all contingents taking part in the stellar event of the festivities.

A 21-gun salute was also rehearsed to get elephants and horses acclimatised to booming of the field guns during the inauguration of the Jumboo Savari.

CAR DCP Prabhashankar, Palace ACP Channaiah, DCPs M.M. Mahadevaiah and A.N. Rajanna and other officials were present.

Seating arrangements for Jumboo Savari: The district administration has made seating arrangements for 17,000 people inside the Palace premises besides banning people from climbing on to heritage buildings to witness this year’s procession to be taken out on Oct.14.

Deputy Commissioner C. Shikha, who is also the Dasara Special Officer, said that the administration has made arrangements for 17,000 people incuding VIPs, invitees, pass holders, Dasara Gold Card and ticket holders in Palace premises and added that those who wish to witness the spectacle outside the Palace need not buy any ticket.

She further said that 50 seats each would be reserved for persons with disabilities, foreign tourists and senior citizens at the Balarama Gate and added that the special seating arrangement for foreign tourists is in addition to the 1,000-seat gallery put up at the Government Ayurveda College Circle.