Mysuru: Member of the erstwhile Mysore Royal Family Pramoda Devi Wadiyar has issued a clarification in response to certain media reports claiming that this year’s Dasara celebrations, spanning eleven days, are being held “for the first time in 400 years.”

In an official statement, she clarified that this claim is factually incorrect and misleading. While the Mysuru Dasara festival is traditionally celebrated over nine days, there have been multiple occasions in the past when the festivities have lasted eight, nine, ten or eleven days, depending on the lunar calendar.

“The calendar (Panchanga) followed by the Mysore Palace for all festivals, including Dasara, is based on the lunar cycle. Variations in the duration occur due to astronomical factors, particularly the positions of the Sun and the Moon, which determine the alignment of lunar dates,”  the statement read.

Historical records confirm that Dasara was observed over eleven days in several years, including 1920, 1929, 1953, 1962, 1980, 1990, 1998, 2000, 2015 and 2016.

Pramoda Devi emphasised that this year’s eleven-day celebration is consistent with past practice and in accordance with traditional observances guided by the lunar calendar and is therefore, not an unprecedented event in the 400-year history of Mysuru’s royal Dasara.