MYSURU: One of the major attractions of the Mysuru city is its famed tangas (horse driven carriages) and tourists who visit the city never forget to take a tanga ride around the Central Business District (CBD) which has several heritage sites. With Dasara celebrations around the corner, these tanga owners are now getting ready to attract more tourists through alterations and decorations of their tangas beside special make up to their horses. Meanwhile, tanga owners allege that state tourism department has stopped releasing grant in aid to them to prepare tangas and horses for Dasara celebrations. But department officials have denied the charge.According to the tanga owners, generally they start preparations for the Dasara celebrations nearly a month in advance. "Our daily earnings reach peak in the Dasara time as tourists who arrive to participate in the celebrations and visit the various heritage sites of the city opts for tanga ride instead of autos or cabs. So every tanga owner ensures that his tanga will be attractive. Generally we under take annual maintenance works of tangas in this season as it serves all the purposes," said Rafik Ulla , a tanga owner. "We spend around Rs5,000 to Rs10,000 on repair, alteration and beautification works. Generally tourists prefers attractive tangas having healthy horses," he said."Horses are the major attractions for every tourist. So we decorate them also. If any tourist finds horse is not healthy, thin etc, no one prefers such tangas," he added.According to Munnath Pasha , who has a garage in Lashkar Mohalla (Sangam theater road) said generally tanga owners prefers alterations like attractive tops of different designs and soft seating arrangements. "As tourist inflow is high at the time of Dasara celebrations and Dasara holiday, every one wants to ensure that their tanga is preferred by one and all," he said.But this year tanga owners upset with the state tourism department for not releasing grant for Dasara. "Tangas are also one of the major attractions of Mysuru. Like releasing the money to clean and decorate various historical sites, government must also release money to tanga owners," said Dharmesh Muttanna , a tanga driver and a resident of H D Kote.Tourism Department Deputy Directr H P Janardhan informed that three years ago, state government had released grant to tanga owners to prepare for Dasara. "If they forms an association with bylaws and approaches us we can release grant. We can't release without any organisation. Who is responsible if some one misuses the government grant," he questioned.

Stay updated with all the Latest Mysore headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.