Golden throne shifts to Durbar Hall in Palace

MYSORE : The Mysore royal family on Thursday took out the fabled golden throne from the strongroom and moved it to the Durbar Hall as a precursor to the rituals connected with the private Dasara festival. After traditional pujas, the throne was covered with a white cloth. It's being guarded by police. The throne will open for public viewing on September 25 when the Dasara festival commences.
Dispelling speculations whether the private Dasara celebrations will be held following the death of maharaja Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, maharani Pramoda Devi had said that the family will continue with the tradition. "Dasara is the most important festival in the religious calendar of our family and I am eager to continue with the customary and traditional practices observed by the family," she said a few weeks ago.
On Thursday, Pramoda Devi supervised the assembling of the throne and gave directions to the staff on the intricacies of fixing it as the throne mainly consists of a seat, a staircase and a golden umbrella.
Earlier, palace priests performed the Ganapathi puja and homas in her presence and consecrated the place where the throne was to be placed. The throne was taken out from the vault between 10 am and 11am in Tula Lagna. Deputy commissioner C Shikha, executive officer of the Mysore Palace Board, and director K M Gayathri were present.
The family had sought an auspicious time to assemble the throne and move it to the Durbar hall. "Now that the throne is assembled, it sets in motion the process of celebrating private Dasara festival," palace secretary M Lakshminarayana told TOI. During earlier days, the rulers held a durbar during the Dasara festival, a custom continued by Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar when he held Khas Durbar (private durbar) even though he was a titular head.
As the family has not named a successor even after 10 months after his death, the royal sword is likely to be placed on the throne to continue the tradition of private durbars. The durbar could be held symbolically given that the family is mourning.Rituals associated with the private Dasara festival of the royal family will commence on September 24.
In the absence of an heir, the maharani has said that she will designate a male member of the family to conduct the rituals on her behalf.