Tusker Prashantha to carry golden howdah at Mysuru Dasara

Mangaluru: Prashantha, an elephant that spent four years at the Pilikula Nisarga Dhama biological park near Mangaluru, has been named to carry the Golden Howdah during the Mysuru Dasara procession on Vijayadashami.

Prashantha was brought to Pilikula in 2009 after being trained at the Dubare elephant camp in Kodagu. He remained at the facility until 2013, when he was called to participate in the Mysuru Dasara celebrations. He subsequently returned to the elephant camp.

Jayaprakash Bhandary, who was then director of the wildlife enclosure at Pilikula, recalled Prashantha as a gentle elephant who had matured into a well-behaved tusker during his stay at the facility. Although the elephant had posed some challenges to his trainers and keepers in his younger years, the care he received at Pilikula helped him become more accustomed to other animals, Bhandary had said.

Bhandary had also noted Prashantha’s potential to carry the Golden Howdah, pointing to his relatively flat vertebral column, similar to those of former Dasara elephants Balarama and Arjuna. Prashantha’s selection for the prestigious role brings attention to an elephant whose formative years included a stint at a wildlife facility in coastal Karnataka.

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The Hans India