As Dasara approaches, seven cannons, which had been housed at the iconic Mysuru Palace, had been handed over to the Gun Shed Troupe, a team of police personnel attached to the City Armed Reserve (CAR) which operates the cannons.
The vintage artillery, used to fire 21 gun shots on the day of Jamboo Savari, is being readied for the big day.
A 32-member police team has cleaned the cannons, which are installed on two-wheeled carts.
The team is expected to start rehearsals to acclimatise elephants to the booming sound of the cannons firing.
The rehearsal is done under the watchful eyes of Forest Department officials and the elephants’ mahouts and kavadis.
On the day of Vijayadashami, cannons are fired 21 times outside the palace fort to signal the beginning of Jamboo Savari.
Rehearsals are conducted three to four times in the run-up to the Dasara finale every year to prevent the elephants from getting nervous as a result of the sound and smoke.
Siddaraju, a head constable of CAR, who is part of the Guns Shed Troupe, said ammunition for the cannons – gun powder – is procured either from Arsikere or Channarayapatna in Hassan district.
The powder is first dried and then about 1.8 kg is packed in a cotton bag and tied with a thick thread.
The bag is then inserted into the barrel of the cannon for firing. Three rounds each are fired from seven cannons to complete a 21-gun salute. The cannons are fired at the palace and also at Bannimantap, where the procession concludes. Each round of fire needs cleaning to remove leftovers inside the cannon, before another round.
Earlier, two kg of gun powder was used for firing but the quantity had been reduced over two years. Each cannon needs about five persons to operate.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / by Shankar Bennur / Mysuru – September 30th, 2015
