The royal rituals of the ‘Gaddi ceremony’ to anoint the scion of the erstwhile Mewar royal family, Lakshyaraj Singh, as the successor of Arvind Singh Mewar were performed in the City Palace here on Wednesday.

The traditional rituals—guided and supervised by the royals’ Kulguru—lasted for over a couple of hours.

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Another principal custom of the day was “Ashva Pujan”—the worship of the royal horse. This important ritual was performed by the newly anointed royal in the historic Chowk of the Palace.

This was followed by Lakshyaraj Singh’s ceremonial visit to the shrine of Eklinga Mahadev to seek blessings from the family’s principal deity on the auspicious occasion of his ascension to the ‘Gaddi’.

Eklinga Nath is considered the principal deity of the former Mewar princely state. In earlier times, Eklinga Nath was considered the King of Mewar, while the rulers (Maharanas) performed their royal duties as the Deewan of Eklinga Nath.

The scion of the royal family also needs to pay obeisance at the city’s Hathipol gate, where the “Rang Paltan” ceremony takes place—symbolising the changing of the headgear, as the white turban of the mourning period is replaced by the traditional “Mewari Pagri”.