No mention of Wadiyars during Dasara inauguration leaves some citizens unhappy

The Wadiyar kings of the Yadu dynasty ruled Mysuru from 1399 to 1950

A section of the citizens of Mysuru are unhappy with politicians and officials as there was no mention of the Wadiyar kings of the Yadu dynasty, who ruled Mysuru from 1399 to 1950, during the inauguration of the Mysuru Dasara atop the Chamundi Hill on September 26 by President Droupadi Murmu.

Convenor of Mysuru Mahaprabhugala Vichara Vedike B Jayadevaraje Urs said, “We can understand that the President might be ignorant about the history, culture and heritage of Mysuru. But, the organisers, the state government and the District Administration, should have briefed her that the event is being held as the Wadiyars started it, resumed it and sustained it for four centuries.”

N Nanjunderaje Urs, writer, scholar and historian, said, “Raja Wadiyar, who understood the significance of the celebration of Dasara by Vijayanagar emperors, initiated it in his capital Srirangapatna in 1610. Raja Wadiyar held the first Dasara celebration even though his son died just a day before the start of the festival. The successive Wadiyar kings celebrated the festival, improvising and adding grandeur, with each new edition.”

Urs said, “We know not much about the celebrations of the festival during the rule of Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan, even though Immadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, Nanjaraja Wadiyar, Bettada Chamaraja Wadiyar VIII and Khasa Chamaraja Wodeyar IX were kings up to 1796. After the coronation of Mummadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar in Mysuru, Dasara celebration started in Mysuru in 1799.”

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Aravind Sharma, founder of Samagra Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, said, it is not just about culture, tradition and heritage, the Wadiyars were concerned about the welfare of the people of the Mysuru state, which comprised the present 14 districts of Karnataka from 1799 to 1950.

“The earlier Mysuru state was much bigger and comprised parts of present Tamil Nadu. They provided education, encouraged industrialisation and even established their own industries to provide jobs. For the development of the entire erstwhile Mysuru state, only Wadiyars are responsible. Still, we are not against the mention of other names. The President took the names of historical icons like Rani Abbakka, Rani Channamma and Onake Obavva. Similarly, she could have taken the name of at least one Wadiyar king,” he said.

H L Yamuna, president of Vokkaliga Vikasa Vedike, said, such lapses occur because those who are involved in the organisation of the festival, both politicians and officials, do not know the origin and significance of Dasara.

“Chairperson of Infosys Foundation Sudha Murty, who once inaugurated the Dasara celebrations, had mentioned that the Wadiyar Maharajas of Mysuru were the ones who saved, conserved, nurtured and developed Kannada. Kannada was the official language only in the erstwhile Mysuru state, as other parts of the present day Karnataka were under the control of either the Hyderabad Nizams or the British, who had their own official languages,” she said.

Yamuna said, “While Mummadi himself was a Kannada writer and patronised Kannada literature, Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar established Kannada Sahitya Parishat, the apex body for Kannada language.”