Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar

Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar (20 February 1953 – 10 December 2013) was the twenty-sixth head of the erstwhile royal family of the Kingdom of Mysore.

Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar
Head of the Royal House of Mysore
26th Maharaja of Mysore
ReignOctober 1975 – 10 December 2013
PredecessorJayachamarajendra Wadiyar (father)
SuccessorYaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar (great-nephew)
Born(1953-02-20)20 February 1953
Mysore, Mysore State, India
Died10 December 2013(2013-12-10) (aged 60)
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
SpousePramoda Devi
HouseWadiyar
FatherJayachamarajendra Wadiyar
MotherTripura Sundari Ammani
Signature

Srikantadatta Wadiyar was formerly a Member of Parliament from Mysore constituency. He was a fashion designer and promoted the sale of Mysore silk saris under his brand, Royal Silk of Mysore. In the second half of the 20th century, the South Indian silk industry was revived, and Mysore State became the top silk producer in India.

Origins

Born in 1953 as the only son of Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar and his second wife, Maharani Tripura Sundari Ammani, Srikantadatta Wadiyar succeeded his father as the head of the Wadiyar dynasty after his father's death on 9 September 1974.

He continued the traditional customs of the royal family from 1974 until his death on 10 December 2013. Srikantadatta Wadiyar's wife, Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, adopted Yaduveer Gopalraj Urs, who was renamed Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, as her son, on 23 February 2015.[1]

Education
Srikanta Dutta Narasimharaja Wodeyar at Manasa Gangotri studying for the Bachelor of Arts (1972) (also seen: teachers – Prof. S. Ananthanarayan, Dr. C. D. Govinda Rao, Prof Mylari Rao and Prof. Putmadappa)

Srikantadatta Wadiyar studied in the private royal school at the Mysore Palace and completed his secondary school education in 1967. He took horse riding lessons from the Government Riding School, Mysore.

He had a British and an Anglo-Indian nanny who groomed him. Mr. Watsa was a mentor to him during his formative years. He joined Maharaja's College, Mysore, in 1968 to pursue his one-year pre-university course and later earned a degree in Bachelor of Arts in 1972, pursuing it from 1969 to 1972, majoring in the English literature and political science.

His minor subject was sociology. His second language was Kannada, tutored by Prof. K. Venkataramappa. He did his master's degree in political science at Manasa Gangotri, University of Mysore, from 1972 to 1974. He studied a course in law as an open-university student.

Throughout his college career, he was an avid cricketer and had a collection of cricket bats signed by international test cricket players. He also studied Western classical music and Carnatic classical music. In his youth, he had studied the Vedas as well. He was awarded gold medal for securing the first rank in Master of Arts in Political Science. His wife, Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, is a post-graduate in Hindi.

Personal life
Srikanta Dutta Wadiyar's Wedding with Pramoda Devi (circa. 1976)

His love of cricket led him to captain his university's team and later prompted his involvement in leading the Karnataka State Cricket Association as its president.[2]

He was married to Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, from the Bettada Kote Ursu family of the Mysore State. They had no children.[3] Although he never had any legal or official title related to his role as head of the erstwhile royal family, people referred to him with respect and esteem as Maharaja.

Wadiyar was the only brother of 5 sisters: Princesses Gayatri Devi, Meenakshi Devi, Kamakshi Devi, Indrakshi Devi, and, the youngest, Vishalakshi Devi.[4]

He celebrated the royal tradition of Mysore Dasara by performing all the rituals which were conducted by his ancestors—the rulers of the erstwhile princely state of Mysore. He conducted a khasgi (private/special) durbar during the festivities, where he ascended the golden throne at the Amba Vilas Hall of the Mysore Palace.[5][6]

Political career

Wadiyar was a longtime member of the Indian National Congress. He participated six times in elections for Member of Parliament representing the Mysore Parliamentary Constituency. He won four time as the INC member, and lost twice; once as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate and once more recently as a Congress party candidate.

In 1984, Wadiyar first stood for Lok Sabha elections on an Indian National Congress ticket and defeated independent candidate K. P. Shantamurthy. He joined the BJP in 1991, but lost the elections badly to Chandraprabha Urs of the Congress. He moved back to the Congress Party, and won Lok Sabha elections in 1996 and 1999, but lost the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.[7]

Death

On 10 December 2013, Wadiyar died from cardiac arrest aged 60 at Vikram Hospital, Bangalore.[8][9] He was cremated with full state honours at Madhu Vana, the burial ground of the royal family. On the day of his demise, the whole city of Mysore shut its business voluntarily in respect. The Government of Karnataka declared a two-day mourning ceremony and a state government holiday. In addition, lighting of his Mysore Ambavilas Palace was halted for thirteen days as a symbol of grief.[10] He was mourned by his wife Pramoda Devi Wadiyar.[11][12]

Legacy

Wadiyar died without an heir; so, during the royal Dasara celebrations of 2014, his nephew Chaduranga Kantharaj Urs performed the rituals[13] while the "khasgi" (private) durbar was conducted by placing the "Pattada Katti" (royal sword) on the throne.[13][14][15][16]

The Karnataka State Cricket Association, of which Wadiyar was elected president just a few days before his death,[17] named the Karnataka Premier League tournament after him.[18] The University of Mysore Platinum Jubilee Cricket Stadium, later known as Gangotri Glades Cricket Ground, was named in Srikantadatta Wadiyar's memory.[19] A sand sculpture of Srikantadatta Wadiyar was etched.[19] A wax sculpture of his like was also created by wax-sculptor Shreeji Bhaskaran.[20]

In 2014, India Posts issued a special cover depicting the private durbar of Srikantadatta Wadiyar.[21][22]

His wife Pramoda Devi Wadiyar became his successor and legal heir. She adopted Yaduveer Gopalraj Urs in February 2015 as her son and renamed him Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar. She conducted the anointment ceremony of her son, thereby delegating him to conduct and continue the religious rituals as per customs of the Wadiyar family.

Atheism

Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar said in an interview that he was an atheist for a brief period. He then resumed his Hindu theistic principles.

gollark: When I get back from this holiday I shall make a functional utility library so none shall suffer the horrors of```lualocal str = ""for i = 3, #words do str = str .. words[i]end```again.
gollark: What's this project?
gollark: ↑π
gollark: PotatOS.
gollark: Yes, because the deposit address just feeds to the kristpay wallet, I think.

See also

References
  1. timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/I-am-eager-to-find-an-heir-at-the-earliest-Pramoda-Devi-Wadiyar/articleshow/42696509.cms
  2. Cricket Academy, Karnataka State. "KSCA". Profile. ksca.co.in. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  3. Aiyappa, Manu (14 December 2013). "Rs 40k cr at stake in legal battle for Palace Grounds". The Times of India. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  4. Devi, Meenakshi (17 June 2007). "My daddy, His Highness, the Maharaja of Mysore". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on 10 February 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  5. "Grand celebration of tradition". The Hindu. 17 October 2012. Archived from the original on 8 July 2018.
  6. "Private Durbar held by Scion of Mysore royal family – enarada.com". enarada.com. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014.
  7. Sampath, Vikram (17 December 2013). "A people's prince". Deccan Herald (Bangalore). Archived from the original on 20 January 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  8. "Wadiyar no more". Deccan Herald. 20 December 2013. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  9. "Newly elected KSCA president Srikantadatta Wodeyar passes away". Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  10. "Srikantadatta Wadiyar cremated". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 11 December 2013.
  11. "ಮೈಸೂರು ಮಹಾರಾಜ ಶ್ರೀಕಂಠದತ್ತ ಒಡೆಯರ್ ವಿಧಿವಶ".
  12. "Srikantadatta Wadiyar dies of cardiac arrest". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 10 December 2013. Archived from the original on 11 December 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  13. "Royal Sword takes king's place at Khas Durbar". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017.
  14. "Durbar goes on without maharaja". Archived from the original on 22 December 2017.
  15. "Thebangaloretimes.com". thebangaloretimes.com. Archived from the original on 29 May 2015.
  16. Mangalore, Mangalore Today. "Royal Sword takes king's place at Khas Durbar". mangaloretoday.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2014.
  17. "Newly-elected KSCA president Wadiyar dies". Archived from the original on 26 December 2014.
  18. "KPL set to take off again". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014.
  19. "Gangotri Glades to Be Named after Srikanta Datta Wadiyar: Sand Sculpture of Wadiyar to Be One of the Attractions during Kpl". 25 August 2014. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  20. "Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar in wax: Pramoda Devi to unveil statue". 15 September 2014. Archived from the original on 15 September 2014.
  21. Khan, Laiqh a; Khan, Laiqh a (25 September 2014). "Special cover on royal durbar". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 8 July 2018.
  22. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar
Born: 1953–2013
Titles in pretence
Preceded by
Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar		 — TITULAR —
Custodian of Royal House of Mysore
1974–2013
Reason for succession failure:
Kingdom abolished in 1950		 Succeeded by
Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.