In a seven-hour span, two of Wadiyar family die

Within a span of seven hours, two members of the erstwhile royal family — Puttarathnammanni, mother of Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, and Vishalakshi Devi, sister of the late Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar - died on Friday. Both had been hospitalised on Wednesday, due to age-related ailments.

Puttarathnamanni (98) passed away at a private hospital in the city on Friday morning (5.45 am). Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, who was married to Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, was her only daughter. Puttarathnamanni was residing alone at the Summer Palace, near Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Garden, in Nazarbad, in the city.

Vishalakshi Devi, 56, the youngest among the six children of Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, the last king of the erstwhile Mysuru state, died Friday noon, in a private hospital in Bengaluru. The eldest was Gayatri Devi, who died of cancer in 1974, followed by Meenakshi Devi, Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, Kamakshi Devi, Indirakshi Devi and Vishalakshi Devi.

Vishalakshi Devi leaves behind her husband Gajendra Singh, son Rudraprathap and daughter Shruthi.

While the body of Puttarathnammanni was being cremated at Khas Maduvana, the cemetery of the family, on Nanjangud Road, the news of the demise of Vishalakshi Devi struck the family. The body of Vishalakshi Devi will be cremated at Khas Maduvana on Saturday.

Following the death in the family, Dasara rituals in Mysuru Palace were cancelled. Two bouts of Vajramusti Kalaga, scheduled for 9.30 am, were postponed to Monday.

The leaders of the Jetty community said, once Dasara is over, it is over. “There is no meaning in holding Vajramusti Kalaga after Dasara. Vajramusti Kalaga is a blessing by God and an assurance by the soldiers that they will lay their lives for the welfare of the king, who leaves on the Vijayadashami expedition,” they said.

Wadiyar was supposed to take out a symbolic Vijaya yatre and visit the temples on the Palace premises, before offering the Banni puja.

Shalva Pille Iyengar, an assistant professor in Ancient History, said, Dasara is celebrated for the welfare of the people and deaths do not have any effect on the rituals. “It has to be recalled that Raja Wadiyar, who initiated Mysuru Dasara in 1610, did not stop, even though his only surviving son Narasaraja Wadiyar died just a day before the start of Navaratri,” he pointed out.