MYSURU: Amid the controversy over Dasara traditions and the erstwhile royal family’s rights, Pramoda Devi Wadiyar on Wednesday said that the Golden Howdah (Ambari) and royal throne are private properties of the Wadiyar family and not assets belonging to the state government.
Addressing a press meet at her residence inside Mysore Palace, she clarified that the government pays royalty and not rent for using the Ambari during the annual Jamboo Savari, as it uses the family’s property for commercial and promotional purposes. “The Ambari and the throne have always been in our possession and will continue to remain ours. The palaces were built with our own money and not through public donations or government funds,” she said.
Clarifying her recent remarks on Dasara arrangements, Pramoda Wadiyar said her October 25 statement was intended only to offer suggestions to address disruptions to the erstwhile royal family’s religious rituals during Sharannavaratri and was not aimed at blaming the government or anyone else. She said the restrictions imposed by police at two palace gates had inconvenienced traditional ceremonies, including Jatti Kalaga, Ayudha Puja and the Vijay Yatra.
She particularly objected to the behaviour of police personnel and said the Jatti Kalaga participants were prevented from entering the palace premises.
She also expressed displeasure over the Forest Department officials not consulting the royal family while selecting the elephant to carry the Ambari this year, stating that the family had been taken into confidence for nearly four decades.
“The government is conducting a cultural celebration and is not the successor to the Yadu dynasty. We continue to perform the religious rituals associated with the dynasty. If the government wants to conduct Dasara independently, it can make its own Ambari. I have suggested that it build one rather than seek ours every year,” she said.
On the palace property dispute, Wadiyar said the Karnataka government had enacted separate legislation in 1996 to acquire the Bengaluru Palace and its surrounding land, and the family’s appeal against the legislation was pending before the Supreme Court. She maintained that the enactment of such laws itself established that the properties were privately owned and did not originally belong to the government.