Mysuru Dasara has come under fresh scrutiny after royal family member Pramoda Devi Wadiyar alleged that poor coordination among government departments and the conduct of police personnel disrupted arrangements linked to the palace’s religious rituals and the Dasara procession.
In a detailed statement issued on Sunday, Wadiyar said coordination was lacking among palace police, district police, Karnataka State Reserve Police units, city and district armed reserve personnel and other departments deployed for the festival. She alleged that similar coordination problems between police personnel and members of the Jetti community recur every year.
Wadiyar also disputed claims that the Vajramushti Kalaga, a traditional bout involving wrestlers, had been stopped for the first time in history. According to her statement, the event had not been held on different occasions in the 1970s and 1980s for various reasons, and was also cancelled in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. She said the Wadiyar family had historically supported the event and that an injury to one of the wrestlers signifies the end of the bout, rather than carrying any special symbolic meaning for the Vijayadashami celebrations.
She said the royal family followed the muhurta fixed for the Vijayadashami procession this year. Before 2024, members of the Jetti community were allowed to stay inside the palace premises on the eve of Vijayadashami, but that permission was withdrawn after an unpleasant incident in 2024, according to the statement. Wadiyar said one group of wrestlers entered the palace premises this year while another was denied entry at a particular gate by police personnel.
The statement also alleged that police personnel and their family members crowded around the golden howdah to take selfies and photographs despite security rules. Wadiyar said this reflected a lack of discipline and could result in a failure of duty. She added that the howdah had been provided to the police commissioner on the assurance that all precautions would be taken to prevent damage.
Wadiyar further alleged that unauthorised personnel from different government departments were present near the howdah despite official passes being restricted to specified individuals. She said palace representatives carrying duty passes issued with the police commissioner’s approval were allegedly pushed by police personnel and the deputy commissioner of police in charge of law and order while trying to retrieve the howdah safely. The statement maintained that the howdah was private property and not government property.
Other concerns raised in the statement included police vehicles being parked in the palace’s private parking area reserved for the royal family and guests, and barricades allegedly obstructing religious rituals. Wadiyar said repeated incidents had forced her to reconsider the decision to conduct the Chamundeshwari procession on Vijayadashami, arguing that the royal family’s religious rituals were being placed in conflict with the government’s Dasara programme.
She proposed that government cultural programmes continue from the first to the seventh day of the festival, while the palace premises remain open on Ayudha Puja and Vijayadashami so that the royal family can conduct its rituals without outside interference. She also suggested holding the Chamundeshwari howdah procession from the palace to Bannimantap on the day of the chariot festival at Chamundi Hill, at a suitable time in the evening.
Wadiyar said that, for the first time in 45 years, the identity of the elephant assigned to carry the howdah had not been communicated to the royal family until the last stage. She said she had to ask the deputy conservator of forests about the elephant five days before the event. Her statement urged the government to consider the proposals so that religious ceremonies, the state Dasara festival and cultural programmes at the palace can proceed without conflict.
