Bengaluru: Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, the matriarch of the erstwhile Mysore kingdom, expressed her “deep disappointment” over the way this year’s Dasara festivities were conducted, emphasising the lack of effective coordination, discontinuation of traditional practices and dereliction of duty by law enforcement officers.
Devi and her son and Mysuru MP from the BJP, Yaduveer Wadiyar, termed the Karnataka government’s attitude as “vindictive” for trying to dishonour the Independence-era privy purse arrangement.Her latest concerns have only added to the intensifying feud between the former rulers and the incumbent government.
In a media statement released Sunday, Devi also raised apprehensions over the blatant violations of safety and security protocols which she said were “becoming more and more evident every year.” One of her biggest concerns was the 750 kg golden Ambari carried atop an elephant in a procession during the festivities.
“This is the first time in 45 years that the elephant carrying the Ambari was kept (away) from us. We were not informed about it until the last moment. With five days to go before the event, I had to personally ask the DCF (Deputy Conservator of Forests) to tell me which elephant had been given the responsibility of carrying the Ambari. This situation caused us a lot of stress for no reason,” she said in the statement written in Kannada.
Devi said the Ambari is the private property of the royal family, not the government’s property, and is given for the procession only after certain assurances from the city police commissioner, including that it will not be damaged and will be strictly guarded at all times.
“Official passes to be near the Ambari are issued only to specific persons; however, unauthorised persons belonging to various government departments are roaming there. This is a violation of the assurance given by the police commissioner,” she said.
The Ambari, made of nearly 80 kg of gold, also carries a golden idol on a trained elephant and is among the main attractions of the Mysuru Dasara.
“Our representatives, who had an official ‘duty pass’ issued by the Commissioner of Police to safely retrieve the Ambari, were misbehaved with and pushed by the police personnel and the DCP of the Law and Order Department. This is completely unacceptable,” she added.
The statement adds to the growing strain between Mysuru’s former rulers and democratically elected governments post-independence. In recent years, the growing strain has even seen the two sides lock horns over ownership of large swathes of land in Bengaluru and Mysuru.
In March last year, the Supreme Court pulled up the then Siddaramaiah government for trying to circumvent paying the erstwhile royal family by introducing the Bangalore Palace (Acquisition and Transfer) Bill for acquiring about 15 acre of land for road-related works in central Bengaluru.
The Wadiyars own several large parcels of land in Bengaluru, Mysuru and other parts of Karnataka. In central Bengaluru, the erstwhile royal family own 472 acre of land. On 21 November 1996, the Bangalore Palace (Acquisition and Transfer) Act was enacted and two years later, a similar law was brought in to acquire the Mysore palace.
In 2024, the then Siddaramaiah government enacted the Shree Chamundeshwari Kshetra Development Authority Act, dragging one of the most revered deities into the middle of the tussle with the former royals.
According to the erstwhile royals, the Chamundeshwari temple was enlisted as a private property in an agreement between the last Maharaja of Mysore, Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, and the Government of India on 23 January 1950. This was further recognised by the government through its memo dated 28 October 1972.
Meanwhile, Devi also expressed concerns about the discontinuation of the ‘Vajramushti Kalaga‘ (wrestling) tradition as the police did not allow Ustads (chiefs) of the Jetty community to meet the royal family.
“According to the information received, one group of wrestlers had already entered the palace premises, but the other group was not able to enter. If both the groups had coordinated with each other and come together, the chaos that ensued could have been avoided. At the same time, it has also come to my attention that the police personnel at a particular gate, citing reasons known only to them, refused to let them in. It is unfortunate that such problems recur every year between the Jetty community and the police personnel,” she said.
In one incident, caught on video, a police officer stopped three serving ministers who were accompanying Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar into one of the venues.
“The police personnel’s behavior should be taken seriously by their superiors by issuing appropriate instructions. It is shocking that police personnel and their family members are caught taking selfies and photographs near the gold vault, violating security norms. This not only shows a lack of discipline on their part but also leads to dereliction of duty,” she said.
She also made some suggestions to the government, including seeking support from the larger public on future Dasara celebrations.
Other suggestions include limiting government-organised cultural programmes only to seven days and then keeping the palace premises open on the day of Vijayadashmi for the erstwhile Royal family to conduct the Ayudha Puja “without any outside interference”.
Devi reminded the government of her family’s option of taking legal recourse with regard to rituals. “The court has clearly stated in its order that if there is any hindrance in performing the pujas and other traditional rituals, we are free to approach the Karnataka High Court. However, we have refrained from taking such action every year,” she added.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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