Even if people often described Maharaja Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar as meek and reclusive, February 20 was marked on many social calendars to celebrate his birthday with a grand fashion show and dinner at the picturesque Bangalore Palace.
He reinvented himself successfully, presiding over his birthday celebrations and gallantly walking his models up the ramp at the grand finale.
Becoming a couturier who drew inspiration from ancient Puranic texts and the intricate mirror-mosaics found in palaces, he would create gowns and sarees in jewel tones, always working with a fabric he understood best—-silk from Mysore.
“I certainly admired the way he knew his stuff. He used the Ganda Berunda, the symbol of the royal house of Mysore and worked in gold on his sarees to effectively recapture the aristocratic lineage of Mysore royalty,” says fashion designer Manoviraj Khosla.
Fashion guru Prasad Bidapa, who has choreographed several of Wadiyar’s shows, is full of admiration for the way he “single-handedly revived the silk-weaving industry in Karnataka.”
Bidapa says Wadiyar’s collection of silk designs made an impact in the big cities.
“Who can forget the way he recreated 30 designs of women featured in Raja Ravi Varma’s classic paintings? That was a great idea, since all of Ravi Varma’s subjects wore Mysore silk. They were an absolute sell out in the metros,“ he told Express.