The enduring spirit of Dasara

Dasara has over the years evolved as a State festival of the masses, rather than of royalty

September 21, 2014 11:06 am | Updated 11:06 am IST - Bangalore:Mysore:

Mysore Palace will come alive with cultural programmes from September 04, 2013. Photo: M.A. Sriram

Mysore Palace will come alive with cultural programmes from September 04, 2013. Photo: M.A. Sriram

It would perhaps be the first time that the world-renowned Mysore Dasara is to be celebrated without a designated ‘maharaja’ to carry forward the traditions whose origins are lost in the mist of time. This is bound to change the tenor of the coming edition of festivities — from September 25 to October 4 — but the spirit of Dasara will remain just the same in ever so many ways.

The sudden demise of Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar on December 10, 2013, created uncertainty as there was no legal heir to carry forward a custom that has become intrinsic to Dasara. Yet, the Mysore palace traditions have to be carried forward as stated by his wife, Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, and it will be left to a battery of priests to complete the religious rites and rituals.

However, central to Dasara was the ‘khas durbar’ in which the maharaja would ascend the golden throne to hold court. The practice continued till the abolition of the privy purse in 1971. The khas durbar continued till 2013, though only in a symbolic nature. In the absence of a legal heir, even the last vestiges of this practice will be dispensed with this year. Instead, the royal sword will be placed on the golden throne and worshipped. The private procession too may take place, but only to perpetuate a family practice.

The absence of a ‘maharaja’ will be felt only in the traditional practices of the royal family that was anyway out of bounds to the public. It became a muted affair after the abolition of the privy purse, and was revived as a mass festival in 1980 by the then Chief Minister Gundu Rao. Besides, Dasara has over the years evolved as a State festival or Naada Habba of the masses, funded by the government in which the ‘king’ was always absent.

The famed Jumbo Savari, or the royal procession, in which the maharaja would sit atop the 750-kg golden howdah carried by a caparisoned elephant, was last witnessed in the late 1960s and these images have since faded. In tune with the changing times, the procession of the maharaja showcasing his military capacity was replaced by tableaus reflecting the State’s cultural diversity, while the maharaja himself was supplanted by the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari. And it is these images which are strongly etched in the memory of the people in present times.

Mysore Dasara funded, by the State government, is not steeped in religiosity and rituals any longer, though its origins have strong religious undertones. Today, it is a fulcrum to promote tourism and is a carnival that celebrates a range of arts, from the classical to Hindi film songs and dance. While old-timers may say that Mysore Dasara has degenerated from the sublime to the ridiculous, the themes are now more broad-based that appeal to the masses. And as long as it is intrinsic to tourism and a revenue spinner, its future will remain as bright as its past.

Traditions of Vijayanagara empire

When the last maharaja of Mysore Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar passed away on September 23, 1974, his son Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar was the heir apparent. He continued the practices initiated by Raja Wadiyar in 1610 at Srirangapatna. This, in turn, was inherited from the Vijayanagara emperors, who ruled between the 14th and 17th century.

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