Dasara elephants

They arrive to Mysore a month or so before the start of the actual festivities and they undergo practice for their march on the final day.

The elephants are usually brought in trucks and are occasionally walked the 70-km distance from their home base in the Nagarahole National Park to Mysore.

They get rice, groundnut, coconut, jaggery and sugarcane with some salt to add taste to the diet after they return from their regular rehearsals.

Elephants Drona and Balarama carried the idol of deity Chamundeshwari housed in the Golden Howdah for a combined total of 30 years.

The other elephants participating in the event are Bharatha, Kanthi, Gayathri, Kokila, Sri Rama, Gajendra, Biligiriranga, Vikram, Varalakshmi, and Sarojini.

[citation needed] The Dasara procession has faced increasing pressure from activists and campaigners to end its controversial use of elephants.

But the elephants are provided with good care during this period with highly nutritious food & open environments to make sure there is no home sickness for any of them.