For this painter, Dasara jumbos’ torsos serve as canvas

Mysuru: People lining along the sides of the many arterial roads around Mysore Palace to catch a sight of the famous Jamboo Savari see merely the end products, into which go efforts of scores of workers – most of whom are assigned to the care and decoration of the procession’s star attractions, the elephants. Besides being caparisoned, elephants are painted in rich colours for the Jamboo Savari. Etching traditional images on the massive torsos of the jumbos is an onerous task, one that takes 12 to 15 hours to complete, and those engaged to do this work all night on the eve of Vijayadashami to ensure the jumbos are ready for the big event.
The painters said that, given the importance of Arjuna’s role in the procession – he is the howdah elephant – it takes them nearly three to four hours just to paint him. Of course, the major challenge confronting the painters is that, working on the back of elephants is far removed from flourishing their paintbrushes on the smooth surface of a canvas.

Among others, images of several mythological symbols rich in significance in Hindu tradition such as conches, and flowers are painted on the elephants. The symbol of the Mysuru Dasara, the mythical Gandaberunda is also painted on the back of elephants.

Although the Dasara celebrations have a history dating back four centuries, the practice of painting elephants started only a century ago. Nagalingappa Badiger, a government school teacher who is heading the team of painters, said that the elephants were painted to infuse colour into the procession, and to make them look more attractive for the finale.

Badiger has been painting the Dasara elephants for the past 15 years. “Drawing traditional images on elephants has become an easy task for me over the years,” he said.

Admitting that Arjuna, the howdah elephant remained the cynosure of the procession, Badiger said that they allocated more time for painting him. “We start decorating Arjuna even before dawn,” he added.

Dubbing the experience of painting the Dasara jumbos ‘amazing’, Badiger, who teaches drawing to schoolchildren in Periyapatna, said, “Initially, I was slightly apprehensive about painting the elephants, but now we can do it, even without the assistance of mahouts and kavadis.”