Mysore Palace and A Mystery of A Curse! 

Mysore name is invariably linked with palace. It was the seat of the Wodeyar/Wadyar dynasty of kings who ruled Mysore since 1399 to 1947. They bestowed so many palaces to  Mysore that the city seems dotted with palaces. 

1- Jaganmohan Palace that was used by the last ruling maharaja Jaichamarajendra Wadiyar as an art gallery. It is still being used as an Art Gallery;

2- Jayalakshmi Vilas is now a folk art museum. 

3-Lalita Mahal palace is converted into a 5 star heritage hotel run by ITDC.

4-Rajendra Vilas palace on top of Chamundi Hill is also being turned into a hotel.

5-Krishnarajendra Vilas Palace is now Krishna Rajendra Hospital.

6-The headquarters of Central Food Technological Research Institute, a national research institute is still another palace.

Besides these six palaces there are buildings a century old or more, like Crowfard Hall now the headquarters of University of Mysore, Oriental Research Institute building, Corporation Complex of Mysore City Corporation, et cetera. In all the above palaces, the royal family holds blocks held by the kings traditionally.

But when we say Mysore Palace it refers to the famous big and beautiful palace Amba Vilas which has 3 wings. Actually they are additions to the main palace constructed at different times. One part, that contains grand and ornate durbaar hall and a smaller hall, was completed by last reigning king Jayachamrajendra Wodeyar in 1940. It was  donated to the Government of India at the time of independence. It is now under the Government of Karnataka and is open to public for a small amount of ticket - Rs 40 for adults, Rs 25 for under 12. Foreigners have different rates. Another part or wing the family uses as its residence. Still another part close to the residence is converted into a museum and open to public for a ticket of Rs 40 and 25. The guide there informed me that the big palace under the Government of India is maintained by the Government and the revenue from tickets go to their coffers. The ticket proceeds from the museum go to the erstwhile queen/princess-Rajmata Pramoda Devi. For entering both these places visitors have to remove footwear.* No photography is allowed inside. 

First floor of this part of the palace has durbar-e-aam and durbar-e-khaas. Former a hall where king used to meet public and receive their petitions; latter a smaller hall where the king used to meet his ministers and have other private meetings.

Both are pillared, beautifully ornate and impressive. Entire palace is full of beautiful carvings. Certain rooms have intricately carved mahogany ceilings.

Palace abounds in antiques and unusual things that surprise and enchant visitors. 

There are the royal dresses and charming old furniture. A wooden hauda- almost basket like seat to be placed on elephants for people to sit on- covered with loads and loads of gold. One room contains chairs with silver legs for the king and glass legs for visitors.

In the museum there was one thing that I really found very interesting. It is a lift for royalty to move between the floors. It’s made of wood. Mind you it was installed when there was no electricity. Hence it was manually operated. Supposedly, according to the man stationed inside the museum and unofficial guide, 3 men at lower level and 3 on top maneuvered the wooden cage up and down. There is a treasure trove of photographs and paintings of the royal family marking many significant family and historical events. I spotted one royal family portrait done by Raja Ravi Verma.

I guess A Little Dose of History is in order.

In the beginning I said that Wodeyar dynasty ruled Mysore from 1399 to 1947. It's not entirely true. 

There was a period of about 38-39 years when Mysore was ruled by an upstart Hyder Ali and his more famous son Tipu. Hyder Ali (1722-82)was an illiterate but extremely intelligent, clever street smart kind son of army commander in the service of Nawab of Carnatic, who eventually joined Mysore army. His older brother too was a brigade commander in the Mysore army. The two brothers learnt French war techniques from Dupleix. Buying European/British war equipments from Bombay he formed a force of European sepoys. With these strengths Hyder Ali also joined Mysore army with independent command in 1749 under its prime minister Nandraja. Working successfully he kept rising in hierarchy. In 1761 he imprisoned the then king along with his adopted son in their own palace in Seringapatam and himself became sultan.He, increasing Mysore kingdom's boundaries ruled it till his death in 1782. His son and successor Tipu continued his policies, playing significant role in Carnatic and Mysore wars and keeping the British at bay. After Tipu's death in 1999 Wodeyar king got reinstated and he shifted his capital from Serirangatam to Mysore.

^{The Royal Curse
Talking of Mysore palace, I think I must talk about the strange curse to the wodeyar dynasty, people talk about.} 

^{Initially the Mysore kingdom had a very tiny area under the suzerainty of Vijaynagar empire. When Vijayanagar empire’s downfall began, as was customary in those days, Mysore kingdom started increasing its area and influence. In 1610 Thirumal-Raja, sometimes also called Sri Rang Raya, the representative of Vijayanagar at Serirangapattan, being ill, went to Talakad to offer sacrifices at the Vaideswara Temple. He had left his second wife Alamelamma in charge of the government at Seringapatam. Hearing that her husband was about to die, she proceeded to Talakad  taking all her jewels, leaving Raja Wodeyar of Mysore in charge.}

^{The story goes that the jewels belonged to Sri Ranganath Swami Temple and Alamelamma, also referred as Rani (queen) as a devotee had its custody. Or the jewels were hers but she used to lend them to the temple twice a week to deck up the deity.}

 ^{However, now the temple authorities wanted to have the custody.} 

^{Still another possibility that Wodeyar wanted the temple authorities to have the custody.} 

^{Some even  believe that Raja Wodeyar had desired her jewels.}

^{Whatever the reason, the fact is that some force was sent after the Rani for the jewels.}

^{The latter, in stead of parting from her jewels, escaping along with her box of jewels from a back door, ran, with soldiers following her. Reaching a cliff over Cauvery at a place called Malangi,  threw the jewels in the river and drowned herself. The story did not end here.}

^{The folklore says that before jumping and drowning in the Cauvery waters she gave a three-fold curse-“Let Talakad become sand; let Malangi become a whirlpool; let Mysore Rajas fail to get heirs.”}

^{(Malangi or Malingi was one of the 7 townships of Talakad)}

^{Here is the myth or romance of history.}

^{Talakad, historically a vibrant town, is under several meters high sand dunes.}

^{Malingi is like a whirlpool.}

^{Most relevant to what I am talking about here-the Mysore palace and the Wodeyar dynasty-is an inexplicable fact that since then the Wodeyar kings have not been having natural heirs. Every king adopts a son and when adopted son’s son becomes king, he fails to have an heir. Thus every alternate generation adopts a son.}

^{For the first 2 natural phenomena, geologists do offer some explanations. But there cant be one for Mysore kings’ inability to have heirs.}

^{The public perception still holds Alamelamma’s curse responsible for these happenings. However, so popular are the Mysore kings, (officially there are no kings in India though) that when I spoke to a few people in Mysore they maintained that Alamelamma had misunderstanding. Actually some other king had sent army and not the Mysore Wodeyar king.}

^{Whatever be the truth. The fact is that within the palace complex there is a temple devoted to Rani Alamelamma. Also, on the 9th day of the great dasahra celebrations the Mysore royals worship Alamelamma every year.}

^{*It would be a good idea to wear socks while visiting the palace. Sometimes the ground becomes very hot and uncomfortable to walk on. Also the path, the day I visited was randomly strewn with tiny stones-kankad-patthar. It was a bit painful to walk on. Especially as most people are not used to walking barefoot.}