Srikanta Wadiyar

Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar
Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, Scion of Mysore Royal Family between 1974 and 2013
Reign	1974-10 December 2013
Predecessor	Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar
Spouse	Pramoda Devi
House	Wadiyar
Father	Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar
Mother	Tripura Sundari Ammani
Born	(1953-02-20)20 February 1953 Mysore, India
Died	10 December 2013(2013-12-10) (aged 60) Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Signature
Religion	Hinduism

Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar Bahadur (February 20, 1953 – December 10, 2013), also referred to as Prince Srikanta Wadiyar, was the prince of Mysore Kingdom and head of the Wadiyar dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Mysore between 1399 and 1950. Wadiyar was also a member of Indian Parliament from the Mysore constituency. He was a fashion designer and a promoter of Mysore silk sarees under his Royal Silk of Mysore brand name. In the second half of the 20th century, silk industry in South India revived , and Mysore State became the top multivoltine silk producer in India.

Origins

Born in 1953 as the only son of the last ruling Maharaja of Mysore His Highness, His Excellency Dr. Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar and his second wife, Maharani Tripura Sundari Ammani Avaru, Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar succeeded his father as the head of the dynasty after his father's death on 9th September 1974. He continued the informal and titular rule of the royal family as king from 1974 until his death on 10th December, 2013, preceding his nephew Chaduranga Kantharaja Urs to the title.

Education

He studied in the private royal school at the Mysore Palace and completed his secondary school education in 1967. He took horse riding lessons from the Government Riding School, Mysore.

He had a British nanny and an Anglo-Indian nanny who groomed him. Mr Watsa was a mentor to him during his formative years. Wadiyar joined Maharaja College, Mysore in 1968 to pursue his pre-university course (one year) and studied for a BA degree from 1969-72 majoring in English literature and political science. His minor subject was sociology. His second language was Kannada, tutored by Prof K. Venkataramappa. He did his Masters in political science in Manasa Gangotri, University of Mysore, from 1972-74. He studied a course in law as an open University student. Throughout his college career, he was an avid cricketer and had a collection of cricket bats signed by international Test cricket players. He also studied Western classical music and Carnatic classical music. In his youth he had studied Vedas as well. He was awarded the Gold Medal as the first rank student in MA Political Science. His wife, Mrs. Pramoda Devi, is a post-graduate in Hindi.

Personal life

His love of cricket which saw him captain the University team, later prompted his involvement in leading the Karnataka State Cricket Association^{[References 1]} in the position of President.

He was married to Maharani Pramoda Devi Avaru, from the Bettada Kote Ursu family of the erstwhile princely state of Mysore. They had no children. ^[1] Although he was never the official king of Mysore Kingdom but only its prince, people called him with esteems as Maharaja.

Wadiyar was the only brother of 5 sisters - (Princesses) Gayatri Devi Avaru, Meenakshi Devi Avaru, Kamakshi Devi Avaru, Indrakshi Devi Avaru and the youngest, Vishalakshi Devi Avaru.^[2]

Political career

Wadiyar was a longtime member of the Indian National Congress. He participated four times in elections for Member of Parliament representing the Mysore Parliamentary Constituency. Results were that he won twice as the INC member, and lost twice; once as a BJP candidate and more recently as a Congress party candidate.

Death

On 10 December 2013, Wadiyar died from cardiac arrest aged 60 at Vikram Hospital, Bangalore.^{[3] [4]} He was cremated with State honours at Madhu Vana, the burial ground of the royal family. On the day of his demise, the whole city of Mysore shut its business voluntarily in respects to His Highness. The Government of Karnataka declared a two day mourning ceremony, and a state government holiday. Further to this, lighting of his Ambavilas Palace (Mysore Palace) was halted for thirteen days as a symbol of sorrow. ^[5] He is survived by his wife Pramoda Devi Avaru.^[6][7]

See also

• Wadiyar dynasty
• Kingdom of Mysore
• Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar
• Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV
• Mysore silk

External links

• History of Mysore Palace

References

Srikanta Wadiyar Wadiyar dynasty Born: 1953 - 2013
Titles in pretence
Preceded by Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar	— TITULAR — Maharaja of Mysore 1974–2013 Reason for succession failure: Kingdom abolished in 1950	Incumbent Heir: Chaduranga Kantharaja Urs

Persondata
Name	Wadiyar, Srikantha Datta Narasimharaja
Alternative names
Short description	Indian politician
Date of birth	20 February 1920
Place of birth	Mysore, India
Date of death	09 December 2013
Place of death	Bangalore, Karnataka, India