BENGALURU: An overwhelming display of affection for the Mysuru royalty was seen during the inauguration of the 202nd Flower Show at Lalbagh Botanical Gardens on Friday to mark Independence Day.
The show is being organised by the Department of Horticulture and Mysore Horticultural Society.
Visitors jostled to capture shots of Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, wife of late Maharaja Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, and Mysuru scion Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar when they visited the Lalbagh Glass House.
Photojournalists had a tough time taking pictures. A few women even fell at the feet of the Maharani to receive her blessings.
The royalty first garlanded life-size statues of the Mysuru royal family’s lineage in the Glass House. One lakh roses in yellow, red and white had decked up the glass house with ‘Bangalore Palace’ as this year’s theme.
An elephant decked up with capsicums and a sand sculpture of late president APJ Abdul Kalam were the biggest draws.
Later, at a function at Bonsai Gardens to mark the occasion, which was initally videographed by a drone camera, the Mysuru royal scion said he was proud to be “a Bengalurean as well as a Mysurean.” He said Lalbagh was ‘Bengaluru’s greatest capital asset’. Pramoda Devi called upon Bengalureans to live a life as one with nature and to tackle pollution. Expressing great happiness over the arrangements, she said she was “not able to explain her feelings in words”.
Honour for King
The organisers honoured the scion in a traditional way by offering him a Mysuru Peta. Pramoda Devi Wadiyar offered to put it on him.
A booklet in Kannada on the Lalbagh and a coffee-table book with photographs of the Mysuru Royalty and leaders who visited Lalbagh in the past were released by the royal family members. A photo exhibition depicting rare pictures and the life of the kings of Mysuru from 1339 to 2013 was also declared open.
‘Want clean, green Bengaluru’
When a newsperson asked Mysuru Maharaja Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar about his expectations for Bengaluru in the impending BBMP elections, he shot back saying, “This is not the forum to discuss such things.” When the query was repeated, the new king said, “I want to see a clean and green Bengaluru.”