Wednesday, May 27, 2015

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.

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