The crowds thronged to Mysuru (present day Mysore in Karnataka, India ) last week for the Dasara Festival as they do every year. The grand finale was the procession of elephants- the Jamboo Savari- headed by the lead elephant carrying in his howdah Goddess Chamundeshwari, patron of the region. The weight of the howdah is said to be about 750 kgs. To me, as I am sure to many old timers, it was heartwarming to see pictures of the young Maharaja, His Highness Yaduveer Krishnadatta Wadiyar, his wife Her Highness Trishikha Kumari,and their two young sons, Adyaveer aged 8 and Yugadhyaksh, aged 2. This caught the imagination of the public as Yaduveer is the great grandson of the last reigning Maharaja of Mysore, His Highness Jayachamrajendra Wadiyar.
In the midst of all the celebration, old timers like me remembered the story of curse on the Wadiyars of Mysore. Legend has it that ages ago, in 1612, the king of Mysore conquered the neighbouring state of Srirangapatnam. To escape capture and give up her famous jewels, the ruler’s wife Allamelamma, jumped into the Cauvery river with her jewels on her. While jumping to her death, she pronounced three curses that came remarkably true. She said the area around Talakad will become barren- which it soon did. The second curse was the whirlpools will dominate the area where she jumped- which happens even now. The third curse is the subject of our post. She cursed that the ruling Wadiyars then called Wodeyars of Mysore would never have a male heir.
In the days of Royalty, Mysore was one of the richest and largest kingdoms in undivided India. Allamelamma’s curse appears to have come true. Generation after generation of Wodeyar Maharajas either did not have children or did not have male heirs. Consequently, many Kings or Queens who ruled the Mysore kingdom, were forced to adopt successors from their close relatives. Interestingly, the Maharaja was childless in alternate generations!
The last such case was as recent as 2015 when Her Highness Pramoda Devi, the surviving Maharani of Mysore chose to adopt Yaduveer to succeed her husband His Highness Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, as the titular Maharaja of Mysore. He was the nephew of the Maharaja and was studying in Boston when his life changed dramatically through this decision. He married Trishikha Kumari of the royal family of Dungapur in Rajasthan. As a great fan of cricket, I can’t but add that her great uncle Raj Singh Dungarpur, was a cricketer himself who later became a well know cricket administrator in India.
The Maharajas of Mysore were able and enlightened rulers. It is generally considered that Mysore was one of the best administered Kingdoms amongst the pre-Independence Princely States. The city of Bangalore (now Bengaluru) gained considerably from the munificence of the Maharaja of Mysore. He donated land for the now prestigious Indian Institute of Science and was a major patron of the arts. India became independent in 1947 and a Republic in 1950. In keeping with the treaties signed with the Government of India by the Princely States ( as they were then called) the Maharajas, Nawabs, Rajas, etc continued to be titular rulers of the states and received a privy purse. In 1971, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi abolished the Privy Purse and Royalty as we knew it till then was abolished. In some parts of the country this was welcomed as the rulers had looked after themselves more than the people they ruled. In others, like Mysore, for example, this move was tinged with sadness. The rulers of Mysore had done so much over generations for the people of their kingdom. In the old days, and I daresay till recently, it was common in many houses in Mysuru to have a portrait of the Maharaja. If you want to read more about the history of the Wodeyars, do read “Splendours of Royal Mysore” by Vikram Sampath.
But coming back to the present, it is heartening to see the young family of the Maharaja of Mysore. One school of thought holds that finally Allamelamma’s curse has been broken after more than 400 years. Another holds that the curse may still be in force as the present Maharaja is not the biological son of his predecessor. Be that as it may, we who respect the Mysore Royal Family pray that Goddess Chamundeshwari blesses him and his family with a long life and every happiness.
