From Hampi to Mysuru — The Story of Dasara

For nine days, the royal centre was full of activity. There were processions, music, dancing, wrestling, fireworks and military displays. The king and his court were at the centre of it all, while the chiefs and military commanders of the empire came to the capital with their troops and gifts.

Paes describes the great platform, Mahanavami Dibba, where the king appeared during the celebrations. He calls it the "House of Victory" and describes its two platforms as being:

"beautifully sculptured."

He was clearly amazed by what he saw. At one point, looking at the enormous gathering, he says:

"it seemed as if what I saw was a vision."

And I can understand why.

Imagine standing in the royal centre of Vijayanagara and watching decorated horses and elephants, soldiers, musicians, dancers and wrestlers moving through the city. Add fireworks to the scene and you begin to get a sense of what Mahanavami must have looked like.

Mahanavami was a religious festival, but it was also an important royal occasion.

The various chiefs who ruled different parts of the empire came to Vijayanagara. They brought their troops and presented themselves before the king.

Nuniz, another Portuguese traveller who visited Vijayanagara a few years after Paes, gives us another glimpse of this.

His account tells us about the relationship between the king and the nayakas (feudal chieftains) and how the festival was connected with the payment of revenue and tribute. So, somewhere amongst all the celebrations was a very implied symbolic gesture of the King's supremacy and the chiefs' loyalty.

There was also the showcase of art & culture from each province. Wrestling was an important part of the celebrations. There were dancers and musicians, archery and other displays of physical skill.

And there were fireworks! Paes talks about:

"many rockets and different sorts of fireworks"

being used during the celebrations.

It is easy to forget that fireworks were already part of royal celebrations in sixteenth-century India.

This huge Hindu Empire after two hundred years had an unfortunate turn of events. In 1565, the Vijayanagara army was defeated at Talikota by the Muslim Kingdoms from the north. The victorious armies moved towards the capital and the city was devastated.

But the Vijayanagara kingdom did not disappear immediately, but its power did definitely diminish. The brother of the ruler shifted the capital to Penukonda. Tirumala Raya's lineage started the fourth and final dynasty — the Aravidus who ruled first from Penukonda and later Chandragiri and finally Vellore.

As Vijayanagara power diminished, the Kingdoms that arose in South India were that of Thanjavur, Keladi and Mysuru.

The Nayakas of Thanjavur had originally been governors under Vijayanagara. Over time they became independent rulers and developed a rich court culture of their own. Navaratri became part of this tradition too.

Music, dance and performance were important parts of the Thanjavur court, and the old palace complex still preserves some of the spaces associated with this cultural world.

And continued in the Keladi Nayakas' Kingdom too. However the most famous festivities that reflect the pomp and show of Hampi was at Srirangapatna, the capital of Mysuru Kingdom.

In 1610, the Mysuru chieftain, Raja Wodeyar, took control of Srirangapatna and continued the same festival, Navarathri as Dasara there, only 45 years after the Talikota battle.

Srirangapatna was not just a temple town but an important centre and seat of Vijayanagara vice royalty. The festival was dedicated to Chamundeshwari and gradually developed its own identity.

Even during the turbulent times of Haider and Tipu Sultan's reign, the Hindu festival continued unabated. An English prisoner of war explains vividly the Mysuru wrestlers and the duels that resulted in serious casualties.

In 1799, after the fall of Tipu Sultan, the Wodeyar court shifted from Srirangapatna to Mysuru. Dasara moved with it. Over the years, it became the grand Mysuru Dasara that we know today.

The palace became the centre of the celebrations. There was the royal Durbar, music and performances, processions and, of course, the famous elephants.

The Navarathri in Mysuru is known for its elephant parade with Goddess Chamundeshwari atop, rituals, wrestling matches and cultural performances, today. Visitors flock to the city to see the various celebrations, enjoy the fair-like atmosphere, book a hotel to view the elephant parade in the town or marvel at the Mysuru Palace lighting in the night.

It is televised and shown to all people worldwide virtually and has become a cultural nerve centre of Karnataka.

Standing on the Hampi ruins, at the Mahanavami Dibba today, it is easy to think of the festival as something that belonged to the past. The city around it is in ruins. And the crowds that once gathered here are long gone. But it did not disappear but changed cities.

From Hampi to the Nayaka courts in Thanjavur & Keladi. And then to Srirangapatna and Mysuru.

Each court gave it its own character. But some things remained — the nine days of Navaratri, the royal ceremonies, music, performance, processions and the idea of the king appearing before his people.

The Mahanavami Dibba stayed behind at Hampi. But Mahanavami didn't. It became Dasara, now televised and shown to the modern Indian and tourist alike.