The 54-year-old Balarama who had carried the golden howdah 12 times in the Dasara Jamboo Savari, is through the first round of tests in order to be eligible for the 13th time.
The elephant who had registered a sharp dip in its weight, making many think that he had lost out to Arjuna in the howdah race, walked with ease carrying a load of more than half a tonne on Monday.
Dr Nagaraj, a vet, said that Balarama has passed the first round of tests. Sacks filled with 300 kg of sand, a cradle and other weights of about 600 kg were mounted on his back during rehearsal. Balarama carried out the task with ease.
He said that similar tests will be conducted on the three other male elephants — Arjuna, Gajendra and Abhimanyu. The weight will be increased by 100 kg each time until the maximum load of 1,100 kg is achieved. Besides the ability to carry the howdah effortlessly, several other factors will be taken into account.
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