The Dasara elephant gracefully carries the ambari weighing about 800 kgs during Jumboo Savari, unmindful of its pain and irritation to the skin. However, there is a caretaker for the jumbo, who sees to it that the gentle giant does not get hurt in the process of carrying the howdah. The success of whole Dasara procession lies on his craftsmanship.

Elephant tailor Pasha, who stitches the gaadi, namda, chaapu for placing the howdah on the back of the pachyderm, works gently with the awl (large needle) ensuring that the elephant does not get injured.

His work is not an easy one, which should be carried out with patience. He first measures the length and breadth of the elephant’s back and then stitches the accessories.

Pasha was entrusted the job in 1971. Though he officially retired in 2006, the Forest Department seeks his skills every year for this unique work of stitching the decorative and protective covering for not only the howdah-carrying elephant but also for all other jumbos taking part in the procession.

Before retiring, he was the mahout of elephant ‘Sarala.’ His guru Sulthan Saab was the mahout of ‘Biligiriranga’ which carried the howdah in the jumboo savari earlier. He began stitching gaadi when he was a young boy and then went on to sew gaadi to Rajendra, Drona and now Balarama, Gajendra and other elephants.

Pasha is now passing on his tailoring skills to Balarama’s mahout Thimma, Arjuna’s mahout Vasantha and Masthi, mahout of Abhimanyu. Though his successors are now ready, Pasha hesitates to leave his favourite vocation.

Pasha’s life has not been a rosy one. Once an angry elephant broke his knee when he was in Bangalore for Rajyotsava function. After the incident, fearing his so

source: http://www.StarofMysore.com / Feature Articles / September 25th, 2012