Divine Art: His creation is the centre of attraction in Dasara

Anything that is related to Mysuru is, either directly or indirectly, related to the Wadiyars, the Mysuru Palace or Dasara. This year, among 65 recipients of Kannada Rajyothsava Award, there are four persons from Mysuru district -- C Maheshwaran (Media), Dr A S Chandrashekar (Yoga), Puttasiddaiah (Education) and N S Janardhana Murthy (Sculpture).

While Dasara concluded with the Jamboo Savari on October 26, Rajyothsava awards were announced on October 28 and presented on November 1. Incidentally, Dasara and the award had a connection through Janardhana Murthy. The idol of Sri Chamundeshwari, taken out in a procession in the golden howdah, carried by elephant, during Jamboo Savari, the last leg of Dasara, is sculpted by Janardhana Murthy. It is the same idol, which is used for inauguration of the annual Dasara celebrations, atop the Chamundi Hill.

With the evolution of royal Dasara into people’s Dasara or 'Naada Habba', the idol of Sri Chamundeshwari has assumed significance. Earlier, the Wadiyar kings used to travel in the golden howdah during the Jamboo Savari. Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, the last ruler of the erstwhile Mysuru state, conducted his last Dasara in public, in 1969.

In 1970, Kannada activist and writer Na Nagalingaswamy of Kannada Kranthidala, along with Nagabushan Tiwari, P V Nanjaraja Urs and others organised private Dasara and took out a procession of an idol of Sri Chamundeshwari made of sandalwood, on a wooden howdah, carried by an elephant.

It was a repeat in 1971, with more support by the late MLA D Jayadevaraja Urs, industrialist F K Irani, and the late president of Mysuru Municipal Council B C Lingaiah. The committee was later expanded to include Sahukar Thimmaiah, Subba Rao, R Vasudeva Murthy, Subramanyaraje Urs (Chaduranga) and others.

In 1975, Jayadevaraja Urs, then MLC, prevailed upon chief minister D Devaraja Urs to support them to conduct Dasara. The golden howdah was borrowed from the Mysuru Palace, then head by Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, for Jamboo Savari. There was an image of Bharat Matha in an open jeep, behind the elephant. In 1976, an idol of Chamundeshwari was ordered to be made. It was in Chola style.

Janardhana Murthy, the 1949 born sculptor said, “In 1987, I received an order to sculpt the idol of Sri Chamundeshwari from H N K Gowda, a patron. I completed the work in 1989 in Hoysala style, under the guidance of my father N P Srinivasachar. Since 1990, it is used for the Jamboo Savari. Rest of the time, it is placed in a mantapa in the Gombe Thotti of the Mysuru Palace, where daily puja is offered to it.” It has to be noted that then president R Venkatraman launched the Jamboo Savari in 1990.

Murthy said, "Even though his three sons have learnt the art of sculpting, they are not into it for a livelihood. The Rajyothsava award is a honour to the art. My grandchildren are still too young. They observe me at work. If they show interest, I wish to teach them, so that they can carry forward the legacy.”