Mysore Royal family perform pooja

Mysore, Oct 1 (UNI) The Mysore Royal family has allways played significant role in the rituals and festivities during the ten day dasara celebrations.

The royal family members performed the Ayudha Pooja inside the courtyard of the Mysore palace here. Scion of the Mysore Royal family and former Member of Parliament Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar completed his private pooja and offerings followed by pooja to weapons followed by pooja Kushmanda (cutting of pumpking) inside the palace.

This was followed by a procession to the Bhuvaneshwari temple when the weapons were carried in a golden palanquin. Prior to this programme Mr Wadiyar watched the famed Vajra Mushti Kalagad, the traditonal form of a wrestling. This system has been followed from the Vijayanagara empire and continued even today.

On the first day of the festival, the king and the queen take Kankana Dharana (tieing a sacred band on the right wrist) which is followed by the worshipping of the golden throne. The Khas Durbar (Private Durbar) is convened, where in the Raja ascends the throne and the day's proceedings conclude with this event.

On the Mahanavami (the 9th day), 32 weapons are taken in a procession to a temple inside the palace, the premises for Ayudha Pooja. On the tenth day (Vijayadashami), Mr Wadiyar would complete his rituals with a procession contigent, seated in a exquisitely designed silver palanquin drawn by cows and proceed to the temple inside palace premises, to be attended by the large number of family members and other special invities.

Mr Wadiyar would also perform pooja to the Shamee tree and return to the palace to worship the family deity goddess Chamundeswari before completing his religious observance.

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