Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar, scion of the erstwhile Mysore royal family and the last descendant of the Wodeyar dynasty, died of severe cardiac arrest at a private hospital here today.
Sixty-year old Wodeyar, who had been ailing in recent months, was brought to a private hospital in an unconscious state and doctors' attempts to resusitate him failed, a senior hospital official said.
"He was brought around 2 pm. For one and a half hours Dr Ranaganth Naik and four others tried to revive him. But by 3.30 pm. He was declared dead," Dr Madan Kumar, Administrator, Vikram Hospital, told PTI.
The mortal remains of Wodeyar would be cremated at Mysore tomorrow, Home Minister K J George told reporters outside the hospital, adding, the state government has declared a two-day state mourning.
Wodeyar, the only son of Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar, the last ruling Maharaja of Mysore, and his second wife, Maharani Tripura Sundari Ammani Avaru, succeeded his father as the head of his dynasty in September 1974.
He had remained the titular head of the erstwhile royalty during the famous Dasara festivities after succeeding as heir to his father in 1974 that left him with a palace but without a kingdom.
Married to a distant cousin, Pramoda Devi, the couple have no children.
