Kantharaj Urs may be new face of royalty

Simple, down to earth, independent, rational — this is how Chaduranga Kantharaj Urs, who is supposed to succeed his uncle Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, can be described.

Kantharaj Urs is being touted as the successor to carry forward the traditions of the 600-year-old Yadu dynasty.

His interests are varied: wildlife photography, cricket, golf, horses, cars, etc. But, he is a very soft-spoken and friendly person, very much attached to his family. He is married to Priyanka from Pune, has a son Devarath, 7, and daughter Jayalakshmi, 2.

He was fascinated by the Krupakar-Senani duo and took to wildlife photography seriously. He has a huge collection of high-end cameras and lenses. Even on Facebook, he is a member of only BBC Wildlife Magazine Fan Group. His only friend on Facebook is rallyist Lohit Urs.

Born to K B Ramachandra Raja Urs, popularly known as Sardar Ramachandraraj Urs, and Gayatri Devi, the eldest daughter of the last Maharaja of Mysore Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, on October 26, 1972, Kantharaj Urs did early schooling at St Joseph’s School in Jayalakshmipuram. His great-grandfather Kantharaj Urs was Dewan of Mysore (in office from 1918 to 1922) during the reign of Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar.

His sisters are Tripurasundari Devi, Deepamalini Devi and Keerthimalini Devi, brothers-in-law are Swaroop Anand, Jaideep Bhale Rao and Shailesh Singh.

Kantharaj Urs’ father Ramachandraraj Urs died in 2011, while his mother Gayatri Devi passed away in 1974.

He did BA at Maharaja’s College and LLB at JSS College. He moved to Bangalore, but retains his house Leela Vihar at Jayalakshmipuram in Mysore.

He served two terms as chairman of Mysore Race Club, of which even his father was chairman. Now, he is vice-president of Kanteerava Narasimharaja Wadiyar Sports Club, and member of Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Golf Club. He manages Gayathri Vihar estates at Bangalore Palace.

He had even offered to part with a portion of the Palace Grounds in Bangalore, which is still under litigation, for widening of the road, if the family members were allowed to develop a portion of the grounds by conserving its greenery, for commercial purposes.