Row over photography in Palace resurfaces

Mysuru Palace, probably the most photogenic and the most photographed palace on earth, and photography are inseparable. The combination in fact often creates controversy.

A post by actor Nidhi Subbaiah on her Facebook page recently, invited both criticism and evoked a debate on Saturday. The August 2 post has a photo of the actor sitting on the floor of the Palace.

It has to be recalled that a post of a pre-wedding photo shoot of a couple recently, stirred the hornet’s nest. It raised questions about the lapses in the administration as well as security of the Palace.

A section of the media played up the post of Nidhi Subbaiah and tried to fix the officials of the Mysuru Palace Board, as well as the Police department officials, on Saturday. However, the officials were quick in issuing a clarification.

According to the clarification issued by the Deputy Director of the Mysuru Palace Board, photography, without flash, is allowed at all places of the Palace wherever tourists are allowed. “On June 19, 2003, with chairperson of the Palace Board, the chief secretary, chairing a meeting, it was decided to allow photography by tourists, without the use of flash, for a nominal fee of Rs 20. Further, in a meeting on March 1, 2018, the Palace Board decided to allow tourists to take photographs with either their mobile phones or cameras without flash,” the press note states.

According to sources in the Board, the post of the couple in 2016, of their pre-wedding photos and videos, was a violation as it was an elaborate photo shoot.

“The authorities of the Palace had stopped permission to shoot for cinema and television serials after the filming of the famous Kannada movie ‘Mayura’, starring Dr Rajkumar. The decision was taken as the use of heavy equipment, while shooting for ‘Mayura’, had damaged the edges of the walls and pillars and also the floor of the Palace,” they recalled.

In 2014, when the crew of Tamil film ‘Lingaa’ sought permission to shoot for the Rajinikanth starrer, they were allowed to shoot only from outside.

Sources said that thus only planned photo shoots, using professional lighting and heavy equipment, is not allowed.

The probe into the photo shoot of the couple is yet to reach its logical end, they said.