Arjuna was captured in 1968 in the
Khedda operations from the forests of
Kakanakote in the
Western Ghats of
Karnataka. After he was tamed, he was made a regular at the camps that featured processions during the festival of
Dasara in
Mysore, in the 1990s. After
Drona, then the carrier, fell ill prior to the Dasara festivities, Arjuna was made the carrier of the 750-kg Howdah that houses an idol of a Hindu deity Chamundeshwari, for a year, when the former was made the Nishane aane. That year, before the festivities began, he wavered and charged at the crowd, as the helicopter hovering above raining flower petals on the howdah came low. Eventually, he calmed down to complete the task. The following years, he was made the
Nishan to follow Drona. In 1996, when Arjuna and Bahadur, another Dasara elephant, were taken to
Karanji Lake for bathing, Bahadur's
mahout Annaiah fell and was trampled upon. It was reported as an accident, but Arjun was blamed upon, for already having been known for his bad temper. He was immediately taken "off-duty" and was confined to the village Balle, at the
Nagarhole National Park, before being brought back to the Dasara camp and made the Nishane aane in 2001 to
Balarama, which he remained till 2011. His choice as the carrier was confirmed by the organizers in October 2012. Arjuna carried the
Golden Howdah from 2012 to 2019. He was succeeded by
Abhimanyu. Arjuna died on 4 December 2023 from injuries sustained during a capture operation in a fight with a wild male elephant which was reportedly in
musth. ==Filmography==