This morning, the city woke up to an activity-filled Sunday. As part of the Mysore Dasara activities, a string of physical fitness activities namely Yoga, Heritage Walk, Cycling, Skating and Marathon were inaugurated.

Thousands of sports enthusiasts participated in the Dasara programmes that were formally inaugurated early in the morning.

The entire area around the Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Circle was filled with young men and women eager to participate in the various Dasara events.

Yoga: At about 6.30 am, 600 Yoga enthusiasts performed Suryanamaskar and other postures in front of the Palace gate.

They were led by Yoga exponent Dr. K. Raghavendra Pai, who is also President of Dasara Yoga Sub-Committee.

Eight yoga enthusiasts from abroad, under the tutelage of Sharath Jois of Ashtanga Yoga Kendra, enthralled the onlookers with their yoga postures.

Cycling

The most popular event of the day was Dasara Cycling, in which hundreds of cyclists from all age groups participated. The cycling rally was inaugurated in front of the Palace by District In-Charge Minister S.A. Ramdas.

The rally passed through Devaraj Urs Road, Kala Mandira, Bogadi layout, Ring Road, Vishwa Manava Double Road, ISKCON temple, NIE College, JLB road, Chamundipuram Circle, JSS College, Race Course, Lalitha Mahal Palace Road, Kurubarahalli circle and Chamundi Vihar Stadium.

Marathon

Kannada cine actor Sudeep flagged off the Dasara Marathon in front of the Palace Gate at 9 am. Nearly a 500 men and women participated in the 21-kms-long marathon.

First six prizes in the Marathon for adults comprise Rs. 10,000, Rs. 8,000, Rs. 5,000, Rs. 3,000, Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 1,000 in cash. Marathons for college boys (12 kms), college girls and high school boys (6 kms) and high school girls (3 kms) were held separately. They will be awarded Rs. 1,500, Rs. 1000 and Rs. 500 as first three prizes separately for each category.

Last year, the event had higher number of participants and the prizes awarded were Rs. 60,000, Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 30,000.

The Marathon, which used to be held at the end of Dasara Sports all these years, has been pre-poned this year, as per the directions of the Deputy Commissioner, said Girish Prasad, President of the Sub-Committee. When asked about the lesser number of participants this year, Prasad said "Usually we have it at the end of the Dasara sports event, but this year, for some reasons, it has been suddenly preponed and so many athletes could not make it to the Marathon."

The DC Harsha Gupta, when contacted in this regard, said he had no idea that the marathon was a competitive one. Instead, he assumed that it would be just a run for a cause.

Skating

This skating event was inaugurated by Ekalavya award (skating) winner K. Beena. She had also represented India in Asian Games thrice. This event had good participation with all the skating groups in city coming together to skate from the Palace Gate to Chamundi Vihar Stadium.

Heritage Walk

This three-day event organised by the Department of Archaeology, surprisingly had the least number of participants.

The two kilometer walk took the participants from the Town Hall to the CAVA building. They were accompanied by a guide who narrated the history of the various heritage buildings located along the route. Mayor Sandesh Swamy, Dy. Mayor Pushpalatha Jagannath, Police Commissioner Sunil Agarwal, office-bearers of Dasara Sub-Committees and officials were present.

Courtesy : Star Of Mysore