JOIN USRituals, mass feeding mark obsequies to Wadiyar in city
Elaborate rituals at the Palace and mass feeding for the general public outside, marked the 13th day obsequies of royal scion Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, in the city, on Monday. Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar passed away due to cardiac arrest in Bangalore on December 10.
Chaduranga Kantharaj Urs, the nephew of Wadiyar (son of elder sister Gayatri Devi) and his wife Priyanka welcomed Rajaguru (religious head of royals) Abhinava Vageesha Bramhatantra Swatantra Parakal Swami, on his arrival, at the Palace at 11 am. Earlier, the members of the royal family offered prayers at Lord Krishna temple within the Palace precincts as a prelude to the beginning of day-long rituals at 8 am.
The seer was led to the Kalyana Mantapa, where the Arasu family members had gathered in large numbers. The flower bedecked portraits of Goddess Chamundeshwari, the family deity of Wadiyars, Lord Krishna (as Yaduraya the founder of Wadiyar dynasty is believed to be a native of Dwarka, the birth place of Krishna) and Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar was worshipped to complete the ritual, along with padapooja to the seer. The seer also handed over prasada (worshipped coconuts) to Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, wife of the late scion.
The rituals that lasted four hours were performed under the supervision of Palace priests Janardhan Iyengar, Chandrashekar Shastri, Shyam Jois, assisted by Selvapillai Iyengar from Parakala Mutt and chief priest of Goddess Chamundeshwari temple atop Chamundi Hill Shashishekar Dixit.
Seating arrangements
Separate seating arrangements had been made for the members of royal family and their guests from in and outside the State, besides invitees. The immediate relatives of the late scion, his four sisters — Meenakshi Devi, Indrakshi Devi, Kamakshi Devi and Vishalakshi Devi and their family members and their relatives were seated inside the Kalyana Mantapa, where the rituals were performed.
VIPs like Janata Dal (Secular) supremo H D Deve Gowda, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President G Parameshwar, former minister S A Ramdas, Secretary of Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) Brijesh Patel, MLAs G T Deve Gowda and Sa Ra Mahesh were prominent.
Lunch for all
While lunch for the guests at the Palace had been arranged under a huge shamiyana erected in front of Wadiyar’s residence, lunch was arranged at the riding track, popular as Circus Grounds near Karanji Lake in Nazarbad, for the general public.
The menu for the public was bisibele bath, curd rice, kesaribath, etc.
In all, 14 counters had been opened for the purpose with people from different localities making it for the lunch.
The food was distributed in paper plates.