Royal wedding: Mysore’s Maharaja all set to get married on June 27

It’s not every day that a king gets married, is it? On June 27, the Mysore Palace is set to play host to the grand wedding of the Maharaja of Mysore Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar with Rajasthani royal Trishika Kumari Singh, of the Dungarpur family.

The elaborate pre-marriage rituals commenced on June 24. The groom took a ‘yenne snana’ or oil bath early on Saturday  morning , followed by a ‘pada puja’ of Parakala Mutt’s Abhinava Vagheesha Brahmatantra Swatantra Swamy, who is the family's rajguru. As per established custom, the rituals began in the Mysore Palace (Amba Vilas Palace) in the presence of Pramoda Devi, the Queen mother and other family elders.

On Sunday morning, Yadeveer shall perform a vara puja with Trishika. This puja will mark her introduction to the Wadiyar family, and she will be decked up as a bride. Prior to entering the Palace, however, Trishika’s family will have already performed a set of other rituals- a ganapathi homa, a nandi puja and a chaparadatar puja.

The marriage itself is set to take place on June 27 at the kalyana mandapa of the Amba Vilas Palace at the karkataka lagna and savitra mahurat time between 9.05 am and 9.35 am. The ceremony will be provided accompaniment by the classical violinist Mysore Brothers Nagaraj and Manjunath.

After the wedding, from 7:30 to 8:30 in the night, the couple is expected to greet extended family in the Palace’s Durbar Hall, sitting on an ornamented swing.

The guest list for the wedding is impressive, with royals from Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh in attendance.  Also invited are Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Pranab Mukherjee, AICC Chief Sonia Gandhi, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, and ambassadors from Switzerland, Germany, France and the United States (US ).

While owing to security constraints, only 550 persons will be present for the wedding, over 2,000 guests are expected for the receptions. The first reception will be hosted at Mysore Palace on June 28, while a second one will be held at the Bangalore Palace on July 2.

As part of the marriage celebrations, the Amba Vilas Palace will be illuminated for an hour every evening till June 29, with special permission being granted by the Karnataka Government at the behest of the royal family.

During the whole ceremony, from 24 June to 29 June, the Palace is closed for visitors. But the public will be able to catch a glimpse of the royal couple on June 29, when the couple will take a turn within the palace premises in a car.

The last marriage of a prince hosted at Mysore Palace was that of the previous Maharaja Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, nearly four decades ago, although the weddings of two princesses have since been celebrated here.

Yaduveer, 24, is the grandson of princess Gayathri Devi, sister of Srikantadatta (the previous Maharaja) and eldest daughter of the 25th Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar.  He was adopted on February 23 by his great-aunt Pramoda Devi when Srikantadatta (his great-uncle) died without naming an heir. Yaduveer was crowned titular Maharaja of Mysore on May 28, 2015.

Yaduveer is a graduate in Arts from Boston’s Massachusetts University, and has been engaged to Trishika since his return from US in 2015.

The 22 year-old Trishika is the second daughter of Maharajakumar Harshavardhan Singh and Rajkumari Maheshri Kumari of Dungarpur in Rajasthan.