Srikanthadattā Narasimharājā Wadiyar (20 February 1953 – 10 December 2013) was an Indian royal scion, politician, and fashion designer, who served as Member of Parliament from

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

. He was the son of Maharaja

Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar (18 July 1919 – 23 September 1974), sometimes simply Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, was the twenty-fifth and last ruling Maharaja of Mysore, reigning from 1940 to 1950, who later served as the governor of Mysore until 1964 an ...

, the last

king of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a geopolitical realm in southern India founded in around 1399 in the vicinity of the modern-day city of Mysore and prevailed until 1950. The territorial boundaries and the form of government transmuted substantially t ...

. As a fashion designer, Wadiyar promoted the sale of

Mysore silk Mysore silk is variety of mulberry silk produced in the Indian district of Mysore, Karnataka. Karnataka produces 9,000 metric tons of mulberry silk, accounting for nearly 45% of the country's total mulberry silk production. In Karnataka, sil ...

sari A sari (also called sharee, saree or sadi)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * is a drape (cloth) and a women's garment in the Indian subcontinent. It consists of an un-sti ...

s under his brand Royal Silk of Mysore. In the second half of the 20th century, the

southern Indian South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

industry was revived, and Mysore State became a top silk producer in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

under his great-uncle Maharaja

Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV (4 June 1884 – 3 August 1940) was the twenty-fourth Maharaja of Mysore, reigning from 1902 until his death in 1940. Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV is popularly deemed a '' rajarshi'', or 'saintly king', a moniker with which Mah ...

's reign. After his demise, he was succeeded by his grandnephew Yaduveer Wadiyar as the head of the

Wadiyar dynasty The Wadiyar dynasty,() also referred to as the Wadiyars of Mysore (also spelt Wodeyer, Odeyer, and Wadeyar), is a Medieval India, late-medieval India, Indian royal family of former Maharaja of Mysore, maharajas of Mysore from the Urs (surname) ...

Early life

Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar was born on 20 February 1953 as the only son of Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar and his second wife Maharani Tripura Sundari Devi. He had five sisters: Princesses Gayatri Devi, Meenakshi Devi, Kamakshi Devi, Indrakshi Devi, and, the youngest Vishalakshi Devi. Wadiyar succeeded his father as the head of the

after his father's death on 9 September 1974 and continued the traditional customs of the royal family including

Mysore Dasara Mysore Dasara is the state festival in the state of Karnataka in India. It is a 10-day festival, starting with nine nights called Navaratri and the last day being Vijayadashami. The festival is observed on the tenth day in the Hindu calendar m ...

from 1974 until his own demise on 10 December 2013. He was succeeded by Prince Yaduveer Wadiyar.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/I-am-eager-to-find-an-heir-at-the-earliest-Pramoda-Devi-Wadiyar/articleshow/42696509.cms

Education

Srikanta Dutta Narasimharaja Wodeyar with Prof S

Wadiyar studied at the private

Palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

Royal School and completed his secondary school education in 1967. He took horse-riding lessons from the Government Riding School, Mysore. Wadiyar had a British and an

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people are a distinct minority group, minority community of mixed-race British and Indian ancestry. During the colonial period, their ancestry was defined as British paternal and Indian maternal heritage; post-independence, "Angl ...

nanny who groomed him. A Mr. Watsa was a mentor to him during his formative years. He joined

Maharaja's College, Mysore Maharaja's College, Mysore (1889) constituent college to Mysore University. History The college finds its origins in the English-school known as "Maharaja Patashala" established by Maharaja of Mysore, Krishnaraja Wadiyar III in 1833, at th ...

, in 1968 to pursue his one-year

pre-university According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), basic education comprises the two stages primary education and lower secondary education. Universal basic education Basic education featured heavily in the 1997 ISCED ...

course and later earned a degree in Bachelor of Arts in 1972, pursuing it from 1969 to 1972, majoring in the English literature and political science. Wadiyar's minor subject was sociology. His second language was

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

, tutored by Prof. K. Venkataramappa. He did his master's degree in political science at Manasa Gangotri,

University of Mysore The University of Mysore is a public state university in Mysore, Karnataka, India. The university was founded during the reign of Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV and the premiership of Sir M. Visvesvaraya. The university is recognised by t ...

, from 1972 to 1974. He studied a course in law as an open-university student. Wadiyar also studied

Western classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

and

Carnatic classical music Carnatic music (known as or in the Dravidian languages) is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and southern Odisha. It is o ...

. In his youth, he had studied the

Vedas FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...

as well. He was awarded a gold medal for securing the first rank in Master of Arts in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. Throughout his college career, Wadiyar was a cricketer, like many Indian kings and princes, and had a collection of cricket bats signed by international test cricket players. Wadiyar's love of cricket led him to captain his university's team and later prompted his involvement in leading the

Karnataka State Cricket Association Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) is the governing body of Cricket in the Indian state of Karnataka. The association is affiliated to the Board of Control for Cricket in India and governs the Karnataka cricket team. The association was ...

as its president.

Political career

Wadiyar was a longtime member of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

(INC) party. He participated six times in elections for Member of Parliament representing

. He won four time as a member of the INC, and lost twice; once as a

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

(BJP) candidate and once as an INC candidate. In 1984, Wadiyar first stood for

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

elections on an

ticket and defeated the independent candidate K. P. Shantamurthy. He joined the BJP in 1991, but lost the elections badly to Chandraprabha Urs of the INC. He moved back to the INC, and won Lok Sabha elections in 1996 and 1999, but lost the 2004 elections.

Personal life

Wadiyar was married to Pramoda Devi from the Bettada Kote Urs branch. She is a post-graduate in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

. The couple had no children. He celebrated the royal tradition of

by performing all the rituals which were conducted by his forefathers—the

rulers A ruler, sometimes called a rule, scale, line gauge, or metre/meter stick, is an instrument used to make length measurements, whereby a length is read from a series of markings called "rules" along an edge of the device. Usually, the inst ...

of the

Kingdom of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a geopolitical realm in southern India founded in around 1399 in the vicinity of the modern-day city of Mysore and prevailed until 1950. The territorial boundaries and the form of government transmuted substantially ...

. He conducted a ''khasagi'' (special) durbar during the Dasara festivities, where he ascended the golden throne at the Amba Vilas Hall of the

Mysore Palace Mysore Palace, also known as Amba Vilas Palace, is a historical palace and a royal residence. It is located in Mysore, Karnataka, India. It used to be the official residence of the Wadiyar dynasty and the seat of the Kingdom of Mysore. The pala ...

. Although he never had any legal or official title related to his role as head of the royal family, people referred to him with respect and endearment as 'Maharaja'.

Religious beliefs

Wadiyar said in an interview that he was an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

for a brief period. He then resumed his Hindu

theistic Theism is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of at least one deity. In common parlance, or when contrasted with '' deism'', the term often describes the philosophical conception of God that is found in classical theism—or the co ...

principles.

Death

On 10 December 2013, Wadiyar died from

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

aged 60 at Vikram Hospital,

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. He was cremated with full state honours at Madhu Vana, the burial ground of the royal family, at Mysore. On the day of his demise, the city of Mysore shut its business voluntarily in respect. The presiding

chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Siddaramaiah Siddaramaiah (born 3 August 1947), also referred to by his nickname Siddu, is an Indian politician who is serving as the 22nd List of chief ministers of Karnataka, chief minister of Karnataka from 20 May 2023. He also held that position previo ...

declared a two-day mourning ceremony and a state government holiday. In addition, lightings of

were suspended for thirteen days as a symbol of grief. He was survived and mourned by his wife Pramoda Devi. Wadiyar died without an heir; during the royal Dasara celebrations of 2014, his nephew Chaduranga Kantharaj Urs performed the rituals while the ''"khasagi"'' (private) durbar was conducted by placing the "''pattada katti''" (royal sword) on the throne. On 23 February 2015, Pramoda Devi Wadiyar adopted Yaduveer Wadiyar as her son, making him the new head of the dynasty and posthumously Wadiyar's adoptive son. She conducted his anointment ceremony, thereby delegating him to conduct and continue the royal family customs and traditions.

Legacy

The

, of which Wadiyar was elected president just a few days before his death, named the Karnataka Premier League tournament after him. The University of Mysore renamed the Gangotri Glades Cricket Ground, earlier known as the University Platinum Jubilee Cricket Stadium, in Srikantadatta Wadiyar's memory. A sand sculpture of Srikantadatta Wadiyar was etched. A wax sculpture of his like was also created by wax-sculptor Shreeji Bhaskaran. In 2014,

India Posts The Department of Posts, d/b/a India Post, is an Indian public sector postal system statutory body headquartered in New Delhi, India. It is an organisation under the Ministry of Communications. It is the most widely distributed postal system in ...

issued a special cover depicting the private durbar of Srikantadatta Wadiyar.

References

External links

History of Mysore Palace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wadiyar, Srikantha Datta Narasimharaja 1953 births 2013 deaths Politicians from Mysore University of Mysore alumni Indian National Congress politicians from Karnataka India MPs 1999–2004 Srikantha India MPs 1984–1989 India MPs 1989–1991 India MPs 1996–1997 Lok Sabha members from Karnataka Indian cricket administrators Indian cricketers Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Karnataka Kings of Mysore