The Hindu : Karnataka / Mysore News : Private sponsors to promote several events

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 06, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Mysore

Private sponsors to promote several events

By Our Staff Correspondent

MYSORE, OCT. 5. Mysore Dasara is emerging as a movement to propel the city's fortunes and tourism with sponsors making a beeline to promote the nine-day cultural extravaganza commencing from October 15.

The T.V. Sundaram Motors and the State Bank of Mysore are among those who have evinced interest in sponsoring the key events, including the Palace concerts and the Torch Light Parade at Bannimantap Grounds.

A variety of programmes have been lined up to broaden the appeal of the festivities to cater to all segments of society.

A large number of sponsors are coming forward to promote individual events. These will be finalised within the next few days.

The programme line-up includes Yuva Dasara, a wrestling competition, cultural programmes at new venues, adventure sports, and a heritage walk.

Heritage walk

The Dasara Deputy Special Officer and Mysore City Corporation Commissioner, A.B. Ibrahim, told presspersons here on Tuesday that promoting Mysore's heritage was another feature which will be intrinsic to the festivities and 100 structures would be spruced up and signs containing relevant historic information about these structures would be put up.

The architectural details and their history would also be available in a brochure form.

Mr. Ibrahim said that Mysore's Shah Pasand tongas, which is unique to the city, would be revived as the authorities had decided to continue with the tonga ride.

A dry-run of the heritage walk covering 10 structures will kick off from the Town Hall on October 9 and will continue till October 15 when the actual event for tourists is inaugurated.

The walk along the structured route would follow a 15-minute slide show providing information about the history and culture of Mysore, Mr. Ibrahim added.

Cultural programmes

The Colonial Cousins, Shankar Mahadevan, Antaragni, and others would perform at the Manasagangotri's open-air auditorium, while Bhimsen Joshi, L. Subramanyam, R.K. Srikantan, Kadri Gopalnath and others would perform at the Palace, Mr. Ibrahim said.

The authorities were holding cultural programmes in Somnathpur, Nanjangud, and Srirangapatana for the first time in a bid to promote the tourist circuit that is associated with Mysore.

More than 25,000 people are expected to attend the cultural programmes at different locations every day in Mysore.

The authorities are also expecting a daily influx of nearly one lakh people from October 15 to October 23. However, the number is expected to increase to nearly 10 lakhs for the grand finale marking the Jumboo Savari on Vijaydashmi.

The quality of troupes participating in the Dasara procession would be high this year and the best would be selected after a trial, he added.

Extra buses

The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation would operate 200 special buses, in addition to the regular services, to Mysore daily to clear the festival rush.

The South Western Railways would augment the coaches to the trains to accommodate more passengers. The actual turn out is expected to be double the last year's crowd when nearly five lakh people witnessed the proceedings, Mr. Ibrahim said.

Rate cards

The authorities would ensure that all hotels displayed the hotel tariff card prominently and efforts would be made to curb any arbitrary increase in room rent prices. The Government was anticipating an expenditure of Rs.2 crores for Dasara festivities this year and hoped to make it a self-sustaining affair in future.

Mr. Ibrahim said in the years to come Dasara should purely be a voluntary effort with private participation and minimal Government support. There was a need to promote Mysore's brand image and fuel its development through tourism, he added.

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