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| Wodeyar with Karnataka Cricketers |
Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar Bahadur, the eighth and
the last King of the Mysore Royal Family, breathed his last in Bangalore on
Tuesday. He died of a heart attack in a city hospital.
Maharaja Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar Bahadur, also
named Srikanta Wadiyar, was the prince of Mysore Kingdom and the present head
of the Wadiyar dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Mysore between 1399 and 1950.
The king suffered from heart condition and other health issues. On Tuesday, he
was rushed to a city hospital after he complained of chest pain.
"He had suffered from a massive cardiac arrest and was
brought in an unresponsive state and all attempts to revive him failed,"
hospital sources said.
Wadiyar was also a member of Indian Parliament from the
Mysore constituency. He was born in 1953 and was the only son of Maharaja
Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, the last ruling Maharaja of Mysore and his second
wife Maharani Tripura Sundari Ammani Avaru.
He succeeded his father as the head of his dynasty in
September 1974. Besides politics, he also had keen interest is fashion
designing and was a regular at fashion shows. He used to design for his own
brand of silk sarees - Royal Silk.
He was elected as a Member of Parliament representing the
Mysore Parliamentary Constituency four times, as a candidate of Indian National
Congress, and has lost twice, once as a BJP candidate and recently as a
Congress party candidate.
Every year the famous Mysore Dasara festival draws lakhs of
tourists from across the world and, as the last of the Kings, Maharaja
Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar Bahadur, was the last link with the city's
royal past. He played a key role in conducting the ten-day Dasara celebrations
each year.
His sudden death has also opened up questions on the
succession. Since Maharaja Srikanta Wadiyar has no sons himself, the family
historians are of the opinion that the heir will have to be from the sons of one
of his sisters. And since adoption of heirs from the female line has been done
before in the case of Chamaraja Wodeyar X, it will be followed in finding the
successor of Maharaja Srikantadatta as well.
The Chief Minister of the South Indian state of Karnataka,
Siddaramaiah, offering his condolences has announced a one-day state holiday,
mourning his death. The Mysore scion's final rites will be held in 'Manuvana',
the royal cremation grounds on the outskirts of Mysore, on Wednesday.
