File Photo: Scion of erstwhile royal family Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar pays tributes to the portrait of Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar during his marriage ceremony, at the Palace Kalyana Mantapa, in Mysuru, on June 27. Yaduveer's wife Trishika Kumari and Pramoda Devi Wadiyar are seen.
Credit: DH file photo
Mysuru: This Dasara has heralded more festivities in the erstwhile royal family of Mysuru.
Trishika Kumari Devi, wife of Mysore-Kodagu MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, has given birth to her second child - a baby boy - at a private hospital in Yadavagiri in Mysuru at 8.45 am on Friday, which also happens to be the Ayudha Puja day.
There are false apprehension among people that this birth may cause 'Purudu' for the Navaratri and Vijayadashami rituals of Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar.
For the uninitiated, in Hindu culture, 'Purudu' is a period of confinement for the mother and baby after childbirth. This period is traditionally considered a time of relative impurity.
But, regarding ‘Purudu’ in connection with the birth of a baby in a family, religious scholar Shalvapille Iyengar said neither 'Purudu' nor ‘Soothaka’ (related to the demise of a family member) apply to the ‘king’ (even though he is ‘titular’), because the rituals that he performs are not for his personal self, but for his ‘subjects’ (people)..
“Once he adorns the ‘kankana’ and starts the Navaratri rituals, it is performed to pray for the greater good of the kingdom's people, and not for his personal benefit,” he said.
Iyengar noted that Raja Wadiyar I did not cancel the Dasara celebrations even though his son had died a day before Navarathri in 1610, when the royal family was supposed to begin its first Dasara in Srirangapatna.
Usually, the mourning period for death among the Urs community (to which Wadiyar clan belongs), is 13 days. But, for big state festivities like Dasara, these rituals are ignored for the greater good.
It may be recalled that Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja (YKC) Wadiyar, a member of Bettada Kote family, was adopted by Pramoda Devi Wadiyar on February 23, 2015 following the death of her husband Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar on December 10, 2013.
He was coronated as the 27th Maharaja of the Yadu dynasty on May 28, 2015.
Krishnadatta Chamaraja (YKC) Wadiyar married Trishika Devi, who hails from the royal family of Rajkot, on June 27, 2016.
Devi gave birth to their first child Aadyaveer Narasimhadatta Wadiyar on December 6, 2017.
Beloved royal family of Old Mysuru region
People of the old Mysuru region, especially in Mysuru, Mandya and Chamarajanagar districts, revere the family.
In 1947, Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, the last maharaja of Mysuru Kingdom, was the first Indian royal family to cede power for the formation of Union of India.
They are credited for the construction of the iconic Krishnaraja Sagara Dam, which offers a lifeline for irrigation of food crops in southern Karnataka and also fulfills the drinking water needs of Bengaluru, the silicon city of India.
It should noted that Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV of Mysore donated 371 acres of land and funds to Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata to build the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), which has grown on to become one of the world's best educational institution.
Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (CV Raman) won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930 for his work at the IISc.
Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja (YKC) Wadiyar earlier this year entered politics and got elected as MP in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
The curse
According to a folklore, the Wadiyars family was cursed by Alamelamma, wife of then chieftain Srirangaraya of Srirangapatna.
Due to ill-health, Srirangaraya asked wife alamelamma. During the transition of power, the Raja Wadiyar tried to wrest control of the Srirangapatna.
To avoid the arrest, Alamelamma ran towards river Cauvery near Malingi (Talakadu).
She threw the jewels to it and before drowning, she is believed to have cursed that Talakadu should turn into a sandy desert, and the Malingi region become a whirlpool, and that the Mysore kings would beget no heirs.
Intriguingly, there have been no children for the Maharajas of Mysuru in alternate generations.
Read more | The interesting legend about Alamellamma's curse