Mysuru Dasara has faced a public coordination dispute after royal family matriarch Pramoda Devi Wadiyar raised concerns over crowd management at Mysuru Palace, prompting district minister Yathindra Siddaramaiah to ask the royal family to convey its grievances directly to the state government.
Siddaramaiah said the government was prepared to address any concerns but declined to respond to the matter in detail until he had discussed it with the chief minister. His comments came a day after Pramoda Devi Wadiyar reportedly expressed displeasure over arrangements during the festival and suggested that the Dasara procession be held on a day other than Vijayadashami.
The disagreement places coordination between the state administration and the royal family at the centre of the arrangements for Mysuru Dasara, where government agencies manage the public festival while the palace remains associated with several ceremonial traditions. Siddaramaiah said there must be coordination between both sides.
The minister said private Dasara events had passed peacefully, except for Vajramusti Kalaga, an event that was not held this year. He said the police had different versions of the allegations connected with the cancellation and that he would have to consider all accounts before commenting on the incident.
Siddaramaiah did not immediately comment on suggestions to change the day of the Dasara procession. The issue is significant because the procession is a major public gathering, requiring coordination among the government, police, palace authorities and other agencies responsible for crowd movement and event management.
The minister also responded to the royal family’s position on the government-run festival. Pramoda Devi Wadiyar had said that although the government could conduct Dasara, the golden howdah belonged to the royal family. Siddaramaiah said the howdah was not taken without payment: according to him, it was obtained by paying for its use and returned after the procession.
He added that uncertainty over the selection of the howdah elephant until the last moment may have delayed communication of the final decision. The statement points to a specific administrative issue in the ceremonial planning process, although the minister did not provide further details about the communication or the selection timeline.
Siddaramaiah defended the government’s role in organising Dasara, saying the state had officially conducted the festival since 1971. He described it as a people’s festival after Independence and said the government would continue to organise it in a democratic system.
The royal family is free to approach the high court and to refuse to provide the golden howdah, the minister said, adding that the government would take necessary steps in that event. Further decisions on the procession’s scheduling and the handling of the concerns raised by the royal family remain to be announced.
