Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wodeyar, also known as Maharaja Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wodeyar Bahadur is the current official Maharaja of
Mysore. Maharaja of Mysore was the primary title of the monarch of the Kingdom of Mysore in the country. He is also the head of the royal Wodeyar dynasty which ruled over the territory of Mysore from 1399 to 1950. Srikanta Datta was born on 20th February 1950 in Mysore, India. He was the only child of the last ruling Maharaja of Mysore, Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wodeyar and Maharani Tripura Sundari Ammani Avaru, his second wife. He was born in the Royal Family of Mysore, who belongs to the lineage of Chandrvanshi Kshatriya or the Lunar Dynasty. In September 1974, Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wodeyar Bahadur became the head of the Wodeyar dynasty by succeeding his father.
Srikanta Datta Wodeyar was elected as a Member of
Parliament and represented the Mysore Parliamentary Constituency. He was a representative of the Constituency for 4 times as a member of
Indian National Congress party. He has lost the election for 2 times, once as a candidate of
BJP and later as a candidate of Congress. Maharaja Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wodeyar Bahadur was the captain of the Mysore University cricket team and also represented the University as a cricket player. He was also appointed as the President of
Karnataka State Cricket Association. He retired from the position on November 2010. He is a reputed designer and a supporter of Mysore silk Sarees under the brand name Royal Silk of Mysore.
Maharaja Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wodeyar Bahadur is married to Maharani Pramoda Devi Avaru. She belongs to the well known Bettada Kote Ursu family of the former princely state of Mysore. The royal couple successfully completed their Post Graduation in Political Science and
Hindi from the
University of Mysore. Both the Maharaja and Maharani have been honoured with gold medals for obtaining First Rank.
Although Maharaja Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wodeyar Bahadur is the only son of Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wodeyar, the last and earlier ruling Maharaja of the Kingdom of Mysore, but he has no children himself. But the titular ruler has several nephews by his sisters.
