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Hostage crisis affects pomp of Mysore's Dussehra

Fakir Chand in Mysore/Bangalore

The renowned ten-day Mysore Dussehra festival ended on a sombre note on Sunday, with its pomp and pageantry dimmed by the 70-day hostage crisis involving Kannada film icon Rajakumar.

What was to have been a millennium show of grandeur and gaiety, the tenth-day royal procession across the former capital on Vijayadashami, marking the triumph of good over evil, was subdued, with people only from the old Mysore region of Karnataka participating.

In stark contrast to the hundreds of thousands of tourists descending on Mysore from across the country and abroad for the festival every year, the attendance this time, even on the final day, was only in the thousands.

The state government, which sponsors the festival with generous funding, had decided last month to invite Rajakumar to preside over the celebrations if the bandit Veerappan released him in time. But that was not to be.

With the actor still hostage in the Satyamangalam forest range in Tamil Nadu, the government requested his besieged wife, Parvathamma, to stand in for him, but she refused.

As a result, the onus of heralding the grand cultural show, including the 1.5km long procession, fell on Chief Minister S M Krishna, whose government completes a year in office this week.

With the hostage crisis still unresolved, Veerappan's ghost loomed over the event, with tight security and a large police presence all along the route of the procession.

In the presence of Mysore's erstwhile prince, Srikantadatta Wodeyar, and his entourage, Krishna presided over the final rituals of propitiating Goddess Chamundeshwari, the family deity of the Wodeyars as well as of Rajakumar.

The procession took off with Krishna showering rose and jasmine petals on the presiding deity, placed atop a howdah on the royal elephant Balaram, and flanked by Kavita and Kanti, two cow elephants.

The colourful procession was followed by tableaux that were lustily cheered by the people who had lined up along the route since afternoon. The tableaux reflected the rich mosaic of the state's heritage and the hoary traditions of the country.

The festival ended with a grand cultural programme of dances and songs.

For the first time in years, the tourist flow to Mysore has been hit in the last two months in the wake of Rajakumar's sensational kidnapping, with three others, from his native village Gajanur, about 100km from the former royal capital. As a result, the peak tourist season of the millennium year has been something of a nightmare for tour operators, the hotel industry, taxi services, and guides.

The Rajakumar Abduction: complete coverage
The saga of Veerappan

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