The scion of the erstwhile royal family of Mysore, Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar, loses balance while climbing the “Belli Pallakki” during the Banni Pooja at the main Amba Vilas palace in Mysore, on Vijayadashmi, on Thursday.
The leg injury reportedly sustained by Wodeyar in the process was not the only mishap to dog the festivities this year. Atmavilas V. Ramakrishna, the priest at the royal family’s very private Ganapathi temple inside the palace, who had conducted poojas for 30 years, passed away on the third day of Dasara, on his 85th birthday.
Photograph: Karnataka Photo News
churumuri 
The photo caption should be: “Not fit enough to be the King.”
Seriously SN Wodeyar should get some top notch physical fitness trainers and get into shape!
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Condolences to the family of the priest. Births and deaths do not wait for anybody or any day. Hence not much importance to be given and connected with the Dasara celebrations.
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dodda buddi
stop being so focused on the physique. always pointing to maharaja’s bulk. fat people also have the right to live. not all can be size zero. whats wrong being fat? rise above the physical and get spiritual.
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He must be a blessed soul to have served Amtamavilas Ganapathi for thirty long years ! God bless his soul.
Atmavilas Ganapathi as he is called is said to be made of 30 and odd Saligrama’s and public have no access to this very private temple though it is near the passage connecting the two Durbar Halls. It is said that Atmavilas Ganapthi survived unscathed the inferno of 1897 which brought down the old palace. Ever since this temple was built by Mummdi Krishna Raja Wodeyar, Mysore maharaja’s are said to visit this temple, just before ascending the throne and before Ayudaha pooja / Vijaya Dashami during Dasara.
KP , what is the point in publishing such photographs ? Instead, if you the access, why don’t you publish a photograph of the Atmavilas ganaathi ?
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Oh, Ganapati temple, which was the only part of the old palace which was not burnt!?
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So what!!!
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The biLi kaage had foretold this :)
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Pain unbearable whether it be a prince or a pauper. Agony is very much visible. Doesn’t matter whether he is fat of slim. Blood starts oozing out. The people suurounding him may not know what to do in such situations. OK.
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Enough is enough. Anything that the ‘fat’ king does will be funny for some out there!
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Why do you insist on inflicting degrading spectacles on us? Why must we at all care about an undreamably rich family’s sick head?
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@karihaida
….\m/…hahaha
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In a democracy there is no place for a KING. King’s have only been having lavish lifestyle without any form of scrutiny by its subjects. Tyrannical rule of the Wodeyar’s led to the curse of a Woman from Talakadu.
Wodeyar’s are bearing the brunt of the century old curse. It is time they shed the royalty and live a normal life like any other citizen. Unfortuntunately he is still living in a fool’s paradise.
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Some of you people prove how foolish you are over and over again!
He is not asking to be called king, people do it out of respect to his forefathers. I don’t know why you think he is not living like any other citizen.
He has inherited part of the palace for being part of the royal family, what is wrong with that?
If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
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DB is right.
The time of associating fatness with royalty is long gone.
People in the public eye should try to reduce and be healthy
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Tm says ..Tyrannical rule of the Wodeyar’s led to the curse of a Woman from Talakadu !
Ignorance is a curse not a bliss !
Not A Witty Nick:
Southernmost part of the Palace where a Private museum is located is undeniably part of the old palace. Front portion where the Durbar Halls are located are new. But where exactly the old and the new merge is something not known as common man has any way not seen rest of the palace other than what one has access to.
Laksmiramana swamy temple at south west corner of the Palace is one of the oldest Temples and it was here Raja wodeyar survived an attempt to poison (at the behest of a Kinsman) him by the purohit by divine blessings. King pardons the purohit and appoints him as purohit of Gopalswamy Temple at Kannambady ! It was here Young Mummadi Krishna Raja Wodeyar crowning ceremony in 1799 was also conducted as the entire fort, palace, Houses were devastated by Tipu in 1787 and material had been moved to build a new fort at Nazrabad.
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Now tarlemaga , you are a bit too harsh. THe word king is used not in the true sense of the term but as a habit. So many industrialists, tycoons, politicians, film stars live the life of ‘kings’ these days. Even Malya lives like an emperor. Some of the cricket stars behave like kings. BUt our mysore maharajas did not just lead a lavish life style. they also did lots of other things which made mysore a model state. just read some history book. you will know. dont grudge srikantadatta to live like a pauper. not fair. wodeyars were never tyranical. the curse thing is six hundred year old story. Dont make srikantadatat carry such a heavy baggage all his life for no fault of his. its like the jackel telling the the lamb that his great grand father had once committed some wrong and hence he(jackel) will eat him.
let him be.
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Not a bad idea for this dynasty to end. However, genetics trumps legends. Fertility treatments and adoption are among the many options for the current Wadeyar, assuming Shrimathi Pramoda Devi is not past child bearing age.
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1: bAgiloLu kai mugidu
2: karuNALu bA beLake
3: ede tuMbi hADidenu
4: taravalla tegi ninna tambUri swara
5: hELkoLAkondUru
I am interested in these songs. Can some one suggest where i can listen to them please.
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Tarlemaga.. If you believe in curse, better you have faith in Kings as well. What do you think modern MP ‘Kings’ are doing? I dont think this King wears the attire everyday!
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Obviously Srikantadatta cannot wear the funny clothes everyday. He looks like a natakadha kampani clown who is wearing clothes rented from Prabhat kalavidharu shop.
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Mysore Wodeyars have been good kings and did a lot for people and good of the state. In post-independent era, the royal Dasara tradition is still alive and Srinkantadatta Wodeyar is continuing this. What’s wrong in that, it is, he said and claimed on TV9 channel that from his own pursue he does this. He is a scion of an illustrious dynasty. However, things have changed in democracy. Whether we agree or not he has royal blood and is successor. Still there are many people who respect him as Maharaja. Dasara durbar and all connected things are traditional and he is continuing it in his capacity as a royal scion. Why we can’t accept this simple fact? In fact, we should be proud that he has not thrown all those traditional things to winds. The curse has stayed as times have seen. Regarding the suggested ways to come out of it and have an offspring, I doubt the Queen would buy it.
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The news item and the responses are disgusting
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Tiger of Mysore Tippu Sultan has unfortunately been portrayed by the wodeyar’s in a wrong manner. While Tippu fought to safeguard India from the Brits, Wodeyar was more of a trumpet of the British Raj.
Churumuri has been portrayed too much regarding Wodeyar, while Tippu’s progenies are living like beggars on the street of Kolkatta.
This is absolute double standard.
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Azamgarh:
Why are Tippu’s progenies living like beggars?! (It might also turn out to be security threat to the Nation). Dont they know any trade?
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I agree with u Azamgarh ,Tipu was the greatest secular hero in the country and greatest nationalist . :P
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The Wodeyars agreed to merge with independent India and the then Maharaja also became the Governor.
If they did not merge, who knows what would have been the outcome? The greedy Govt surely would have taken over everything and driven the Wodeyars away too.
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Azamgarh Behen,
You look like a pirated and corrupted data point in a Virtual World. I guess you get some meat into your arguments.
I guess there was Jinnah who stood against the British, but he is on the other side of the border. You need to know where you belong to.
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Small-Wealth-Goddess
I have nothing against fat persons; it is quite clear from the photo Wodeyar is hopelessly off balance. I want him to regain some fitness for his own good. It hurts to see a fat person making a fool of himself on an important occasion that’s all.
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Azamgarh says Tiger of Mysore Tippu Sultan has unfortunately been portrayed by the wodeyar’s in a wrong manner. Which Wodeyar ? Can you elaborate your observation.
Both British and French were colonists. Even after 1947, French India did not gain independence as a natural corollary.
After Independence, Nizam of Hyderabad and Junagandh did not accede to India without a fight. Even Nawab of Bhopal vacillated. So it would be a hoodoo nit to imagine what would have happened if Khudad Sarkar had continued till 1947.
Besides it is not the fault of British, if the descendants of Hyder and Tipu are living like paupers in Calcutta. There were 12 sons of Tipu in 1799 and they were handsomely provided by British at that time. Even now the Value of Real Estate owned by the Family Trust in Tollygunj /Kolkatta is a gold mine. The status of the current descendants is their own making.
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Doddi Buddi
Actually wodeyar did not loose balance that day. A fat pillow was tied up to the back rest on the seat and the space between the seat and the pillars was reduced. The space between the two silver pillars in front maybe hardly three feet. After wodeyar sat down inside the silver chariot, he was trying to remove the pillow which was tied up but could not do so. So when he was putting his left leg inside a protruding metal piece cut his leg.
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Hearing such a sad news shocking the Priest Atmavilas Ramakrishna has served 30 years with the dedication definately will have a special place in the heaven, may god rest his soul in peace,
we are too small to say but god has its own special for these kind of dedicated souls
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Krishna Raja Wodeyar, Narasimha Raja Wodeyar were both slim & trim. Krishna Raja was a grat Maharaja. In order to maintain a good physique, a good balane of food, physical & mental activity is required. This was the problem with Jayachama Raja & Srikanta Datta. Specially before & after Independance, Raja’s did not have to do anything to make a living. But excellent health & a fine body can be achived. It is hard work but can be achived. Rich people do not get much of exercise, eat rich food & slowly but surely lose ground. “Arogyave Bhagya”. Inform Srikata Datta. I have lost 40 lbs in 2 years. Now I am 5’11” & 170 lbs.
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It was interesting to read this thread as I belong to the Atmavilas family which has worshipped the Lord Ganapathi for 14 generations now. Ramakrishna was my cousin, the son of my father’s elder brother. He had been brought to perform the task of worshipping the deity for 6 months and the other 6 months my father performed the pujas.
My father was Sri Atmavilas Srikantiah and he had the opportunity to serve Lord Ganapathy for over 40 years. Later when he died, Sri Ramakrishna was enlisted.
It is true that the saligramas are present inside the Ganapathi idol although the number is supposed to be in 3 digits.
Our forefathers were philanthropists and helped many through education
and daily meals. Annadaanam was their creed and their faith and my father followed it to the letter.
The Ramotsava performed by my father at the premises of the Trinayaneshwara Temple drew the entire Mysore City, including HRH Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar.
The famed Ganapathy festival was celebrated for 40 days at our residence “Atma Vilas”, 94 Thyagaraja Road, and my mother would prepare 35 varieties of snacks as prasadam. People would come in large numbers with or without invitation to get a glimpse of the deity and enjoy the varieties of prasadam.
The world has changed vastly today. People have too. Loved ones have passed on and times have changed but our happy memories cannot change. And time cannot affect them either.
My wife, children and myself live in the hope that our traditional values and our faith should survive always!
Mysore will always be my favourite city, may it flourish!
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Its very interesting yet its more informative from the above thread, mysore has special memory for all who believe in value, ethics and serving,
sandlwood and soil of mysore always gives the people the richness in generasity, and respect for others, even aget
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Wadiyar has lost weight now. He has lost nearly more than 50 kgs.Weant say that due to luxury he has put on weight, he might have some pitutory or other health problems which would have made him put on weight.
Regarding the alamelamma’s curse, there is no written document on this.People say it is a Story.As per people, Alamelamma cursed and jumped into the river and died. If alamelamma cursed while dieing, who heard the curse details.If someone had heard that why didn’t that person stopped her or rescue her from comitting suicide.
There may be some genital problems.
Now, science is advanced, srikanta datta is very rich, if he wants he can go for a test tube baby and Etc, cloning even
We should not underestimate anyone without proper knowledge on the matter what we are discussing
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Now ministers are enjoying luxury, underworld dons, criket players, film actors ,all are leading a masti life, Why cant our maharaja.Let him enjoy.After all its his luck
We should not be jealous about this.
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