Ten-day Dasara festivities come to a close

Curtains fell on the traditional 10-day Dasara festivities here today, with an impressive "jamboo savari" (procession of caparisoned elephants) watched by tens of thousands of people, marking the grand finale.
Celebrated as "naada habba" (state festival), the event showcased Karnataka's cultural heritage resplendent with folk art forms, as 'Arjuna' led other richly embellished elephants through the more than 5-km route from Mysore palace to Bannimantap.
Thousands of people from the city and tourists from outside the state lined up the streets as Arjuna carrying the idol of goddess Chamundeshwari, placed in a 750-kg golden howdah, wound its way majestically from the grand Mysore palace to the terminating point.

The "Jumbo savari", observed in the royal style since the days of the erstwhile Mysore Maharajas, began with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah showering petals on goddess Chamundeshwari, the presiding deity of the historical city.
Pramoda Devi Wodeyar, widow of the scion of the erstwhile Mysore Royal family Srikantadatta Narashimharaja Wodeyar also offered puja, separately.
Srikantadatta Narashimharaja Wodeyar, the last descendant of the Wodeyar dynasty, died of severe cardiac arrest at a private hospital in Bangalore on December 10 last year.