A ceremonial elephant carries a wooden howdah on Sunday during rehearsals for the Vijayadashami procession in Mysore. (PTI)

Bangalore, Sept. 30: A royal widow’s hurt sentiments had nearly derailed the annual meeting of one of Karnataka’s architectural showpieces with one of its most colourful festivals.

But Mysore Palace is again resplendent in the four-century-old Dasara celebrations after the Karnataka government succeeded in mollifying “Maharani” Pramoda Devi just days before the state-sponsored event was to start on September 25.

The wife of Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar, the last royal family scion who died last December, had initially objected to festivities inside the palace on account of the yearlong mourning period.

The 10-day Dasara, whose last day coincides with Dussehra, was begun by King Wodeyar I in 1610. His descendants continued the tradition till Mysore joined the republic after Independence. Since then, it’s the state government that has been sponsoring it.

An idol of Goddess Chamundeswari is worshipped for 10 days on the palace grounds and then taken round the city atop an elephant before being returned to a local temple. During this period, the palace hosts a series of cultural programmes and remains open to visitors, who are allowed to tour a large portion of the building too.

Revenue minister V. Srinivas Prasad recently met Pramoda Devi and convinced her the government meant no disrespect to her late husband in going ahead with the festivities — one of the state’s biggest annual tourist attractions.

Unlike earlier years, when Wodeyar sat on it during some of the rituals, the golden throne has been empty this year during the religious ceremonies at the palace’s Durbar Hall. The reason is that a successor to Srikantadatta is yet to be appointed.

Pramoda Devi has confirmed that the palace would release the golden howdah (the golden mantap placed on an elephant) on the festival’s last day.

She has not been performing the puja this year, since she is a widow in mourning. Till last year, she had participated in the puja with her husband.

Prasad denied any friction with the palace and said the government respected the royal family’s sentiments.

“We fully understand what the family is going through. But the festival is an inherent part of our state’s annual calendar and attracts lakhs of tourists,” he said.

“All the cultural programmes in the palace would be dedicated to the late Maharaja (as Wodeyar is popularly called although he was only a prince with a ceremonial title).”

There’s a little bit of history between the palace and the current chief minister, P.C. Siddaramaiah, which might provide a subtext to the now-defused standoff.

As finance minister in J.H. Patel’s Janata Dal government in 1998, Siddaramaiah had steered legislation to take over almost all of the Wodeyars’ properties, including the Amba Vilas Palace (popularly known as Mysore Palace), Bangalore Palace and several other landed estates in Bangalore and Mysore.

When Srikantadatta mounted a legal challenge, Karnataka High Court ruled in the government’s favour but the Supreme Court later imposed status quo in an interim order. The case is continuing.

Srikantadatta died last December without any offspring. There’s speculation that Kantharaje Urs, son of Srikantadatta’s eldest sister Rani Gayathri Devi, may be appointed the successor but the final authority lies with Pramoda Devi.

Srikantadatta had twice won Lok Sabha seats on Congress tickets and lost two elections too, once as a BJP candidate. He began and ended his political career with the Congress, with a stint in the BJP in between.

When he died, he was president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association.