Tourist attacks mahout of Dasara jumbo Balarama inside Mysuru Palace premises

A day after the Dasara procession, a mahout of elephant Balarama was roughed up by a tourist at the elephant quarters inside the Mysuru Palace premises on Saturday.
An altercation broke out between a tourist and a mahout on the Mysuru Palace premises on Saturday. | Express Photo Services
An altercation broke out between a tourist and a mahout on the Mysuru Palace premises on Saturday. | Express Photo Services

MYSURU: A day after the Dasara procession, a mahout of elephant Balarama was roughed up by a tourist at the elephant quarters inside the Mysuru Palace premises on Saturday.

The unidentified man allegedly tried feeding sugarcane to Balarama, that was the ‘Nishane aane’ this year, when the jumbo was relaxing in his shed after the procession. Thimma, the mahout of Balarama, walked to the man and asked him not to feed outside food to the elephant. Irked by this, the man and his friends broke into an altercation with the mahout and finally hit the mahout.

Later, the mahouts and kavadis converged for the defence of Thimma and asked the tourists to move out of the palace.

The police personnel could not prevent the attack but were seen pulling the tourists to the palace exit and they were left with a warning.

“The elephants are only fed by us, we cannot let other people feed the elephants what they like. What if something happens to the elephant, that is why we forbid people from giving food to the elephants. Some tourists go dangerously close to the elephants for a selfie, this man and his friends did not heed to our words and instead hit Thimma,” said a kavadi who did not wish to be identified.

He was at the spot when the incident happened.

The quarters that is freely accessible for tourists visiting the palace saw a heavy rush on Saturday as people turned up in large numbers to see the Dasara elephants before they leave the city.

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The New Indian Express
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