M.A. SRIRAM

J.R. Lakshman Rao, science writer.

RENOWNED science writer J.R. Lakshman Rao reminisces about the Mysore Dasara festivities he witnessed as an adolescent when Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar (1894-1940), whom Mahatma Gandhi described as “Raja Rishi”, was the ruler of the princely state.

“I was a boy of 15 when I first saw the durbar of Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar at the palace. It was an ecstatic moment for me as I watched the proceedings wearing a black suit and a Mysore Peta, the mandatory dress code to attend the durbar,” recalls the 87-year-old retired professor.

The durbar was restricted to relatives of the royal family, government officers and pass holders. “My brother-in-law and sister somehow managed to get a pass for me to see the durbar proceedings. They told me that the ninth day of the durbar was strictly meant for Europeans,” says Prof. Lakshman Rao, who has published several science books in Kannada and has been in the forefront of the movement to popularise science in the last 50 years.

He remembers the Vijayadasami processions (called the Jamboo Savari) in pre-Independence India when the Maharaja used to sit in the golden howdah mounted on the back of a caparisoned elephant. “People used to wait for this moment,” he adds.

People used to come to Mysore using various modes of transport, primarily bullock carts, with their families and friends to watch the procession. “Their happiness knew no bounds when they saw Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, who was highly respected for his concern for the common people, in the procession,” he recalls.

Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar instituted the Representative Assembly of Mysore State in 1881, the first by any princely state in the country, to address people’s grievances. One of the sessions of the Assembly, chaired by the Dewan, used to coincide with the Dasara festivities.

“The Maharaja wanted to give an opportunity to the representatives to watch the festivities and therefore the session was timed to coincide with Dasara,” he says. The Maharaja invited many renowned musicians, including the “Asthana Vidwans”, to perform at the palace during Dasara.

“Even the music concerts were restricted to a select audience, but loudspeakers were kept in the palace forecourt for the benefit of the common people. I have listened to the music of many stalwarts during my college days,” remembers Lakshman Rao.

Apart from music concerts, people from villages were invited to showcase traditional sports such as wrestling and folk art forms such as “Keelu Kudure Kunita” in the palace forecourt.

Shankar Bennur