In Mysore, a "Coronation" With Gem-Studded Crown for a 23-Year-Old

Mysuru:  If India still had kings, Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar would be ‘Maharaja of Mysore.’ The 23-year-old was handed that designation after a series of ceremonies this morning, but now it only makes him the titular head of Mysore’s royal family.

The private ceremonies on Thursday morning ended with Mr Wadiyar being coronated with a gem-studded crown. In days gone by the coronation would have seen the city decked in its best for days and crowds of people thronging the Amba Vilas Palace, that is the young man’s home in Mysuru.

Today, there were no crowds in the Palace grounds and nothing to indicate that the city was getting its new “Maharaja.” Karnataka Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, did not attend the function, but Home Minister K J George and some of his cabinet colleagues were present.

At 23, Yaduveer is older than his immediate predecessors were when they were “crowned”. The last coronation was held in 1974, when his uncle Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar became Maharaja. He was 21.

Srikantadatta died childless in 2013 and his wife Maharani Pramodadevi picked Yaduveer to be the new “Maharaja.” She formally adopted him in February this year.

The coronation was reportedly delayed because Yaduveer wanted to complete his economics degree at the University of Massachusetts in the US before he was crowned.

Yaduveer’s cousin, Pratap, said it was an emotional day for the family. He said that as Yaduveer has been raised in Mysuru he would be comfortable with the ceremonies and palace rituals his new role entails.

The Wadiyar dynasty began its rule of the kingdom of Mysore in 1399.