Notable music director Hamsalekha to inaugurate Dasara festivities in Mysuru this year: Siddaramaiah

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said popular music composer and songwriter Hamsalekha will set off the famed Mysuru Dasara festivities this year. The well-known music director is also known by the name of Gangaraju.

"Hamsalekha will inaugurate the Dasara festivities," Siddaramaiah told reporters in Mysuru, news agency PTI reported. The 10-day Dasara festival is celebrated as Karnataka's “naada habba”, meaning ‘state festival’, and is set to be celebrated from October 15 to 24 this year.

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Earlier, CM Siddaramaiah had said that this year's festivities will be ‘grand’, and that it will include an air show, an exhibition and other cultural programmes. The festivities are likely to be inaugurated at the Chamundi Hills in Mysuru on October 15 at an ‘auspicious’ time between 10:15 to 10:30 am after offering prayers to goddess Chamundeshwari, Siddaramaiah had said.

The Dasara festival is celebrated in the palace city of Mysuru every year. The iconic celebrations end on the final day of Vijayadashami, when the highly anticipated 'jamboo savari' procession takes place. This is the main attraction as the Dasara elephants carry the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari around the city as cultural programmes also go on to exhibit Karnataka's culture and traditions, with a touch of royal history.

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CM Siddaramaiah had also called upon Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh earlier this month in the national capital to request him to help arrange the air show at the festivities.

(With inputs from PTI)