The Coronation Paintings

There are pictorial records apart from royal murals that show the king Mummadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar being seated on the Golden throne which is a part of the coronation rituals marking the first Durbar of the newly coronated king.

The photograph of the painting shows the coronation of boy King Mummadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar in 1799 at the Kote Venkatramana Temple. In the painting, Dewan Purnaiah is seen on the right side of the king who is seated on the throne.  To the left of king, Lt.Col. Wellesly is seen seated. The throne itself seems flush to the level of the raised platform.

Incidentally, the  Devatanama Kusumamanjari, a Sanskrit work written during the reign of Mummadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar in 1859 in verse form is laudatory and  there is  mention of the various attributes of the throne. The verses about the throne also mention the  mystical  and magical powers that exude an aura around the throne. These powers prevent one who is not worthy from ascending the throne. This is a lithographic book probably printed in the lithographic press called Sri Jagadamba Press situated in the Jaganmohan Palace premises. The book is profusely illustrated with Mysore style line drawings. Some artists seems to have coloured some copies of this book later.

The twenty third Maharaja of the Wodeyar dynasty was selected from the Bettada-Kote Ursu clan who was christened as Chamaraja Wodeyar X and he was ritually coronated on  23 Sep. 1868 when Mysore state was under British Rendition which ended in 1881.

This is a magnificent Mysuru style miniature depicting the coronation of Chamarajendra Wadiyar X in the old wooden palace of Mysuru. Also seen are the royal animals, carriages and palanquin. On the left side of the throne is seated the British Resident and State Officers, on the right side is Aliya Lingaraja Urs who played a significant role during the Regency of Vanivilasa Sannidhana. Artist: Venkatasubbu. Image courtesy: Jayachamarajendra Art Gallery, Mysuru.

-  R.G. Singh

Secretary, Ramsons Kala Pratishtana
You can read a complete version of this article here.

Wadiyar Portraits in Mysuru Style

Commemorative coronation photographs and paintings occupied a singular place in the pictography of the nobility. Portraits were usually commissioned to commemorate special events. One such important event was the Coronation. 

The portrait apart from its status as keeper of memories, was also, for the Wadiyar kings as it was rulers elsewhere across the country, an essential part of the accouterments of the Blue-blooded nobility and the wealthier merchant classes.

Raghu Dharmendra, curator of Ramsons Kala Pratishtana (RKP) mentions in his dissertation, ‘Portraiture – In Surapura and Mysore Paintings - a Comparative Study,’ that at least a 1000 portraits of Mummadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar existed many painted in oils, inlaid work that used ivory, silver relief portraits apart from early daguerreotype photographs as well as lithographic prints.

The tradition of painting historical events continues to this day. The last scion of the Royal House of Mysuru, the Late Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar along with his sisters and their husbands has been painted as several individual portraits by M. Ramanarsayya, the former Superintendent of Jaganmohan Palace.

It is with the intention of keeping this tradition alive, that Ramsons Kala Pratishtana (RKP) first commissioned artist K.S. Shreehari in 2014 to paint a classical portrait in the Mysore style of Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar based on the photographs of 2013 Navaratri Khas Darbar.

This was followed by commissioning artist Manish Verma to recreate a Mysore style painting using a photograph of the Sri Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar. 

This classic Mysore style portraiture shows the king accoutered in his royal vestments and Mysore peta adorning his head while his posture follows the classic from that can be seen in many of the portraits of the present king’s ancestors. He is seated on the silver Bhadrasana which suggests that he has just been invested with the (symbolic) royal authority of Mysore Kingdom, the Maharaja of Mysore. 

-R.G. Singh
Secretary, Ramsons Kala Pratishtana

This is an edited version of an article that appeared in 'Star of Mysore' on 27 May 2015. You can read the complete article here.