Mysuru: Eight Dasara elephants have got insurance cover of Rs. 25 lakh. Five male elephants, Abhimanyu, Gopalaswamy, Vikrama, Dhananjaya, and Ashwathama, are insured for Rs. 3.5 lakh each, and three female elephants, Cauvery, Lakshmi, and Chaitra, are insured for Rs. 2.5 lakh each, for a tota coming up to Rs. 25 lakh, according to Karikalan, Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF).
Mahouts and Kavadis, on the other hand, are covered for Rs. 1 lakh each. A separate insurance cover of Rs. 30 lakh is also available for the protection of public property. The service is provided by United India Insurance Company. Karikalan stated that the insurance coverage would expire on October 25 of the following year.
Dasara will begin on October 7 and the Vijayadashami procession will take place on October 15. Like previous year, the procession is restricted to Palace precincts under “Simple and Traditional Dasara.” The elephants staying in Aranya bhavana premises, will be moved to Mysuru palace premises on Thursday September 16.