Deadlock ends as Mewar heir Vishvaraj Singh completes mourning rituals

Vishvaraj Singh Mewar, who was recently anointed as the titular head of the erstwhile Royal family of Mewar, on Wednesday visited Eklingnathji temple and Udaipur City Palace to complete his father's mourning rituals.

IMAGE: >Vishvaraj Singh Mewar.Photograph: Courtesy Facebook

Vishvaraj Singh, a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA, visited the temple located on Nathdwara road this afternoon to complete the rituals to end the mourning period that started with his father Mahendra Singh Mewar's death on November 10.

Later in the evening, the deadlock over his visit to dhuni (sacred fire) in Udaipur City Palace, ended and five people including Vishvaraj Singh went inside the palace premises with officers and had darshan of the place.

Elaborate security arrangements were made at both places.

There was a deadlock over Vishvaraj Singh's visit to the city palace since Monday as the property is under control of his uncle Arvind Singh Mewar whose lawyer, through public notices published in newspapers, warned of legal action on trespass.

Arvind Singh Mewar, the younger brother of Mahendra Singh Mewar, is the chairman and managing trustee of the trust. The Udaipur City Palace is also under his control.

The notice said that Shree Eklingji Trust Udaipur has decided to give entry to the temple on November 25 to only those authorised by the trust.

After the notices appeared, policemen were deployed at the entry gate of the palace.

Vishvaraj Singh was on Monday anointed titular head of the erstwhile Mewar royal family at a ceremony in Chittorgarh fort following the death of his father.

After the coronation ceremony, Vishvaraj Singh along with a large number of people in Udaipur were denied entry to the palace which led to violent clashes in the night.

The stalemate between Vishvaraj and Arvind Singh Mewar's family continued yesterday with Vishvaraj and Arvind Singh Mewar's son Lakshyaraj Singh targeting each other without naming.

Lakshyaraj Singh told the media last night that endangering the lives of people in the name of ritual was not right.

He alleged that some people on government posts were mounting pressure on administration for their vested interest and were trying to forcefully enter his house.

Lakshyaraj Singh suggested that if someone wants to seek entry; he should go to the court. However, he said that Eklingnathji temple is open to the public and anyone can go there.

A consensus was reached this evening and it was decided that five people will go to dhuni for darshan, collector Arvind Poswal said.

After some time, Vishvaraj and others entered the city palace premises. Earlier, Vishvaraj Singh told reporters at his residence that he was happy that he had the darshan of Eklingnathji.

At the temple, rituals were performed and the priest gave him a red turban which he replaced with the white turban, symbolising the end of the mourning period.

Additional security arrangements were made in the temple to ensure that the visit completes without any trouble.

In Udaipur, prohibitory orders under section 163 of BNSS (formerly 144 of CrPC) were imposed in areas around the City Palace to maintain law and order.