Mysore: Its not uncommon to honour the dead with public memorials. But a veteran palace guide, S. Krishna Rao Surya Vamshi, who has been working at the palace for the past 28 years and enjoyed a special bond with the scion of the Mysore royal family Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, plans to have his own little memorial in his home, storing a small portion of his ashes in his pooja room!
Even as Wadiyar’s ashes were immersed in the Paschima Vahini near Srirangapatna on Thursday by his nephew Chaduranga Kantharaj Urs, the guide, Krishna Rao managed to take some away to preserve in his home in Gayathripuram.
Speaking to the Deccan Chronicle, he declared he would preserve the late Maharaja’s ashes till death. “I consulted top priests before bringing the ashes home. I will offer a special pooja to them after performing the final death ceremonies on the 13th day of his demise and then place the ashes in the pooja room,” he said emotionally.
“Wadiyar was a royal, but he was always down to earth and respected the dignity of labour. I have lots of fond memories of him. In fact, I was the one who gave him the idea of starting a residential museum at the palace and he immediately obliged,” he added.
An exarmyman, the 68-year-old palace guide served in the Bangladesh Liberation war of 1971 and was also a part of the rescue operations that followed the Gangaram building collapse in Bengaluru in 1983, the Bhopal Gas tragedy in 1984, the Mysore Premier Studio fire and the Gujarat quake in 2001.
He even claims to have enjoyed short stints in Bollywood and Sandalwood. While one of his sons, Mohan Rao is a guide lecturer at the Mysore Palace and recently got his tourism license, his other son, Kiran Kumar Rao is an engineer working in Singapore.
