Mysuru MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, heir to the erstwhile royal family, ascended the golden throne and conducted Khas Durbar as part of Navaratri celebrations, in Mysuru on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The Navaratri festival of the erstwhile royal family, the Wadiyars commenced at the Mysuru palace on Thursday complete with religious rites to mark the occasion lending a distinct hue to Mysuru Dasara.

The religious rites and ceremonies have been inherited by the family from the days of the Raja Wadiyar who ordained that Navaratri or Dasara be celebrated on a grand scale when he ascended the throne and took charge of princely Mysore, in 1610 CE at Srirangapatana which was the capital of the kingdom.

Since then, the traditional rites have been followed with minor modifications and Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the heir to the royal family and Mysuru MP, has followed the footsteps of his forefathers in continuing the tradition. The elaborate set of rites was supervised by priests well-versed in the rituals that included “homas”.

It also includes the presence of the royal elephant, royal horse and the royal cow besides the royal insignia of the Wadiyars which is taken in a procession to the temple within the palace premises lending a royal hue to Mysuru Dasara.

In the run up to the festival the golden throne was brought from the strongroom last week and assembled and puja was also offered to it before Yaduveer ascended the throne and held a khas durbar in the presence of family members and special invitees.

Historian C. Hayavadhana Rao in his book “The Dasara in Mysore: Its Origin and Significance”, published in 1936, pointed out that apart from the royal pageantry associated in the eye of the public, the festival has social and religious significance.

The ceremonies as observed in the palace are based on the injunctions laid down in the various sacred texts and this includes Devi Bhagavatha, Padma Purana, Bhavishya Purana, etc., notes Hayavadhana Rao.

Devi is propitiated and invoked during the nine days and Hayavadhana Rao describes the order in which various events connected with the festival are held.

On the first day after the invocation offered to the family deity Sri Chamundeshwari, a consecrated oil bath takes place after which puja is offered to Lord Ganesha; it is followed by Kankanadharana or the investing of the silken threat around the wrist of the right hand. This is followed by the puja on the Sejje, the durbar hall, the navagrahas, to the royal throne and the ceremony of formally mounting on it after circumambulating thrice, writes Hayavadhana Rao. The State sword is also worshipped daily during the nine days.

Though many of the events including the khas durbar – which is symbolic – was open to invitees till a few years ago, they are restricted and conducted in private by the Wadiyars since the pandemic in 2020.