MYSURU:The erstwhile Mysuru royal family got a new titular head on Thursday with the coronation of Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar.
He becomes the 27th head of the royal family, and adorns a position that carries prestige, but no formal authority. The Wadiyar dynasty enjoys enormous goodwill in southern Karnataka, which they administered, and Yaduveer’s ancestors are remembered with fondness for their foresight and modern outlook. People cheered as the 23-year-old Yaduveer ascended the silver throne, Bhadrasana, at the decked-up Amba Vilas Palace. His fiancée Trishika Kumari and her father Maharaja Harshvardhan Bahadur attended the event.
The coronation of the US-educated Yaduveer lifted the gloom following the death of Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar in 2013. Yaduveer, resplendent in a silver-coloured sherwani, silk dhoti and royal necklace, saluted the gathering after ascending the throne amid shouts of ‘Long live the king’.
Addressing the gathering, he said, “I will carry forward a centuries-old tradition with the co-operation of the family and the people.”
The coronation, held after 41 years, was witnessed by members of the royal family, dignitaries and leaders of various political parties. The previous coronation, that of Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, was held on October 16, 1974. The ceremony started with Ganapati and Chamundeshwari puja inside the Mysuru Palace and was followed by homas, navagaraha puja and other rituals for more than three hours.
As priests ushered Yaduveer into the Kalyana Mantap at 9.03 am, the nadaswaram artists and the Palace English Band played compositions of the late Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar.
Yaduveer offered puja to the silver throne and perambulated it three times before sitting on it. The throne had been brought out for the first time in 41 years. He was presented with ‘prasada’ from 21 temples. Amid the chanting of hymns and showering of petals, he was adorned with a gold patta (an ornament worn around the forehead).