I first met Mahaswami at the Palace along with the Taranga Kannada Weekly Editor Santosh Kumar Gulwadi. That was for the purpose of interviewing Wadiyar for an article on his Private Durbar. He was shown some of my paintings, including Ganjifa paintings. He went through those paintings showing keen interest and said that his great-grandfather Krishnaraja Wadiyar III was in fact the creator of 18 Ganjifa card games and also wrote the slokas for those paintings on each card,” said the renowned city artist Ganjifa Raghupathi Bhat, who is responsible for reviving the Ganjifa paintings, which was on the verge of extinction.

Recalling his memories about Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, the last scion of the Mysore Royal Family who died yesterday in Bangalore, Bhat said that Wadiyar had visited his art museum Chitra Saale in Srirangapatna about three times, twice with his wife Pramodadevi and spent about an hour going through the exhibited art works with great interest and even wrote his opinion in the visitors book.

Bhat recalled Wadiyar calling him and asking him to get a few artists from the artists camp that was going on at that time. Accordingly, Bhat took artists Srihari, Vijay Hagargundi, Nagure and another two to the Palace. Wadiyar received them warmly, served them with coffee in silverware and went through their paintings rather critically.

Bhat was astonished at the immense knowledge about paintings Wadiyar displayed when the latter chanted a Sanskrit sloka ‘Kauthuka Nidhi’ from the book ‘Srithatva Nidhi’ written by Sri Krishnaraja Wadiyar III, on seeing a painting of Devi. Looking at the colour of the saree of the Devi he asked the artist as to the basis on which he had used that particular red colour when according to the sloka the colour should have been of yellow shade. Wadiyar also suggested a minor change required in the crown of the Devi as per the tradition.

Raghupathi Bhat, who used to be called to the Palace by Wadiyar to discuss about matters relating to paintings and even about book-bindings to restore old books, was proud to disclose that he had made a portrait in water colour of Wadiyar which was published in The Times of India on the occasion of his 55th birthday.

Raghupathi remembers with nostalgia the suggestion made by Wadiyar that he (Bhat) should shift to Mysore as there was greater opportunity for developing the museum and also scope for his creative works. Bhat says that he took Wadiyar’s suggestion seriously and that was how he moved to Mysore for good. And Wadiyar was one of the first persons to congratulate Bhat when he got the President’s National Award as an artist.

According to Raghupathi Bhat, the Wadiyar dynasty was a blessing to the world of art and also artists whose number increased in old Mysore under their patronage. Expressing deep sorrow at the untimely passing away of Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, Bhat mentioned about Wadiyar’s appreciation of the gold-leaf restoration work he had executed in the Palace Durbar Hall and part of Kalyana Mantap this year.

“I feel, I have lost a father figure in Wadiyar’s death,” said Bhat his eyes going wet.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / December 11th, 2013