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Murals keep alive memories of early Mysore Dasara

By Our Staff Correspondent

Mysore Sept. 30. With documentaries on the early Mysore Dasara being rare, the murals in the kalyana mantapa in the palace here reflect the splendour of the festival as celebrated in the past. These colourful works of art help identify elements of continuity and change. More importantly, these works also help keep alive images once common in the mystical orient that have long since vanished from the Indian milieu — of Maharajas and courtiers astride royal elephants or horses, ambling along in a regal procession.

In the absence of a colourful documentation of the earlier version of Dasara, it is to the kalyana mantapa that one turns to appreciate the glorious past and replicate the same. It is here that artists such as K. Keshavaiah, S.N. Swamy, Y. Nagaraju, Y. Subramanya Raju, and others have conjured up 26 pieces of art works that depict the Dasara procession in all its splendour.

The paintings are reckoned to be based on black-and-white photographs taken between 1934 and 1945, either preserved in the archives or in private collections.

The murals depict the procession passing from the Mysore Fort towards Ashoka Road and important landmarks of the city, including St. Philomena's Church. A panel depicts Christians offering floral tributes to the king and the signboard at the church gate as depicted in the mural reads "God bless our Maharaja", underlying the brotherhood among different communities participating in the festivities. Another panel depicts Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV with his brother and nephew astride the caparisoned elephant and seated in the golden howdah with the Chamundi Hills in the background.

Critics say Keshavaiah imparted a three-dimensional effect to the compositions and executed the works with great skill to immortalise the grandeur of the Mysore Dasara.

Adjoining the kalyana mantapa with its series of murals is the furniture room adorned with a silver chariot used once a year during the ceremonial visit of the descendants of the royal family from the palace to the Bhuvaneshwari Temple. A major work that draws a visitor's attention is a teak-framed painting of the Maharaja seated on a howdah and accompanied by his brothers.

The images of the past as reflected in these works tally with the descriptions provided by historians who were witness to the era. The early editions of the Mysore Gazetteer edited by Hayavadhana Rao provide a glimpse of the festivities during the British Raj.

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