Darbhanga: The Darbhanga royal family is hosting an elaborate funeral feast on Thursday, the twelfth day after the death of Maharani Kamasundari Devi, the family’s last queen.
Brahmins attending the ceremony are being gifted silver utensils, including plates, glasses, bowls, and spoons, alongside modern appliances such as air conditioners, coolers, refrigerators, and washing machines. Organisers have prepared to feed around 100,000 people, with 500,000 sweets, including tubs of gulab jamun and buckets of curd, ready for distribution.
The feast features 56 types of traditional Mithila dishes, 10 to 12 varieties of sweets, and a royal spread of roughly 3,000 different items. About 300 chefs have been brought in to manage the event. A similar feast on Wednesday served 50,000 guests.
Several members of royal families from across India have gathered for the occasion, along with Bihar Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and a number of saints and sages.
Maharani Kamasundari Devi passed away on January 12 at her residence, Kalyani Niwas, at the age of 96 after a prolonged illness. Crown Prince Kapileshwar Singh described her death as “an irreparable loss for our family,” adding that her last rites were conducted according to traditional rituals at the Darbhanga royal complex under strict security.
The Darbhanga royal family has a long-standing tradition of cremating its members at the Madheshwarnath complex in Kameshwar Nagar. Temples have been constructed at the cremation sites of all previous Maharajas and Maharanis, with a total of nine temples currently standing within the complex.
