No King died in this palace

This is rated as one of the finest palaces in the world and lakhs of tourists come every day to look at the resplendent royal home. The palace has become so famous that it has been giving the Taj Mahal of Agra a run for its money as the most visited monument in India.

Before Independence, the palace was not only the centre of attraction but also the chief employer of the erstwhile princely Kingdom. Though it was designed by a British architect, it is essentially an Indian creation, combining many styles.

Strangely, this is not the first palace but one of the many that stood there. The palace that stands today was rebuilt starting from 1897 after a major fire destroyed most of the structure during a wedding ceremony.

This is the majestic and awe-inspiring Palace of Mysore, also mistakenly and more popularly called as the Amba Vilas Palace, of Mysore. This is the official residence of the Wodeyars - the royal family of Mysore, which ruled the princely state of Mysore from 1399.

However, what sets this royal palace aside from others of its ilk is that it has never seen the death of a Raja on its premises for over a hundred years. All the Kings and princes who have sat on the ornate and magnificent Chinnada Simhasana or Golden Throne have never died on the palace premises after the structure was rebuilt.

The last King to die in Mysore was Mummadi Krishna Raja Wodeyar and this was sometime in 1868. Then, the palace was a wooden structure and it had been built in 1799-1800 after the British had killed Tipu Sultan in the fourth and final Anglo-Mysore battle.

The British had restored the Wodeyars to the Mysore throne and Mummadi Krishna Raja Wodeyar was crowned King in a makeshift tent in today’s Nazarbad area of Mysore. As Tipu had completely razed the erstwhile royal residence and forcibly transported the royal family of Wodeyars from Mysore to Srirangapatna where he kept them under strict watch, a new palace had to be built.

The palace, built of wood, came up exactly at the very place, where the Main palace stands today. History records that the first palace was built by the Wodeyars here sometime in the 14^th century. However, this structure did not survive for long and it was demolished and reconstructed. The palace seems to have been constructed multiple times.  

The current palace was commissioned by then regent of Mysore, Maharani Vani Vilas Sannidhna, in 1897 and it was completed in 1912 and expanded later around 1940. British architect, Henry Irwin, designed the Indo-Saracenic three-storied structure .  

Today, the palace sees more than 2.7 million visitors every year. Strangely, after Mummadi Krishna Raja Wodeyar (1794-1868) died (March 27, 1868) in the old wooden palace, no other reigning monarch has died here. He had ruled the Mysore kingdom from June 30, 1799.

After Mummadi Krishna Raja Wodeyar, his grandson, Chamarajendra Wodeyar, the tenth, was enthroned in 1868.  Born in 1863, the young king was just 31 years of age when he passed way in distant Calcutta.

Chama Raja Wadiyar X was also known as Chama Rajendra Wadiyar X ruled from 1881 and 1894. He was born at the old palace or wooden palace in Mysore on February 22, 1863, as the third son of Sardar Chikka Krishnaraj Urs of the Bettada-Kote branch of the ruling clan. His father had died a week before his borth and his mother, Rajkumari Sri Puta Ammani Avaru, was the eldest daughter of Krishna Raja Wodeyar, the third, the then Maharaja of Mysore.

Krishnaraja Wodeyar adopted as heir his grandson, Chamaraja, on June 18, 1865. This adoption was recognised by the British Government of India on April 16, 1867. Since Mysore was under the direct administration of the British from 1831, Chamaraja was handed over the Kingdom only in 1881.

Chamaraja Wodeyar died of diphtheria in  Calcutta on December 28, 1894. His last rites were performed at Calcutta itself and even today there us a small memorial where his last rites were performed.

Chamaraja was succeeded by his 10-year-old son, Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV. Since he was young, his mother, Maharani Kempa Nanjammani Vani Vilasa Sannidhana Avaru, served as regent of Mysore, for some tine.

Krishna Raja Wodeyar IV, also known as  Nalwadi Krishna Raja Wodeyar, was the Maharaja from 1902 until his death in 1940. He died in Bangalore palace.

His successor, Jaya Chamarajendra Wodeyar Bahadur,(1919 – 1974) was the 25th and the last Maharaja of Mysore and he reigned from 1940 to 1950. Jayachamarajendra too died at the Bangalore palace in 1974.

Jayachamarajendra’s son was Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar. He was only a Yuvaraja and he was the last scion of the Wodeyars. He too died at the Bangalore palace just a few days ago.

Thus, we see that apart from Vani Vilasa Sannidhana, who was the Regent of Mysore (1894-1902) and who died in the Mysore palace, none of the rulers have breathed their last on the premises.

The last reigning monarch to die at the palace was Mummadi Krishna Raja Wodeyar and this was in 1868. Since then, the rulers-Chamaraja, Nalwadi Krishna Raja, Jayachamarajendra and Srikanta Datta-have all died outside the palace.

All these rulers with the exception of Chamaraja have died at the Bangalore palace which was built in 1862. This palace was bought or purchased by Chamaraja Wodeyar  in 1873 from Rev. Garrett, the first Principal of Central High School of Bangalore.   

What would you call this. Coincidence or a mere play of history. Whatever it is, this is as mysterious as the royal curse. Incidentally, both the palaces-the Mysore and Bangalore palaces, are under litigation and both act as the residence of the Wodeyars. A section of both the palaces have been turned into private museums by Srikantadatta Wodeyar. He lived, just like his father and grandfather, in both the palaces. 

Assembling a royal seat

The Dasara is the Nada Habba of Karnataka and the best place to catch all the action is Mysore, the city of palace and home to the Royal house of  the Wodeyars.

Mysore is all decked up for the Dasara and the magnificent Dasara procession is just a few days away. The procession on Vijayadashami, marks the culmination of Navaratri and it has generally been held in the afternoon.

If the highlight of the first day of Navaratri is the Wodeyar scion, Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar, ascending the throne, the procession with a caparisoned elephant carrying the golden howdah is the main event of the last day.

Thus, the magnificent Golden throne and the Golden howdah have always remained an integral part of the Dasara celebrations of Mysore.

While the howdah is a permanent structure, the throne is not.

The throne has to be reassembled just before the start of Navaratri and this year it was reassembled in a two-hour exercise on October 5.

It was brought out from the strongroom of the Main palace in Mysore on Sunday under the watchful eyes of Pramoda Devi, wife of Srikantadatta Wodeyar, his aides and officials of  the Mysore Palace Board.

The throne was assembled by twenty five villagers from Gejjagalli near Mysore.

Every Dasara, villagers of Gejjahalli and two others villages-Sakahalli and Kesare-come to the Mysore palace and volunteer their services to the Royal family during the duration of Dasara.  According to palace records, these villagers have been helping the royal family conduct the Dasara ever since the capital was shifted from Srirangapatna to Mysore in 1799 after the fall of Tipu Sultan.

Even today, 30 families of Gejjagalli, Sakahalli and Kesare form a core group which helps the royal family discharge numerous duties and rituals during the Dasara.

These villagers are nor regular employees of the palace. They set aside all their personal work during Dasara and volunteer theoir services. A group of villagers from Gejjahalli help in reassembling the golden throne.

There has been no incident of theft ever since they offered their services to the royal family from 1799. No wonder, their services are sought out even today. The royal family and the Palace board provides the volunteers with traditional dresses and each of them is assigned duties such as bringing out the royal elephant, royal horse, royal cow, royal camel, carrying the royal insignia, royal standard, torch and forming part of the Khasa or private durbar. Some call out the achievements of the royal family during the darbar and act as standard proclaimers or royal criers.

With the villagers displaying their loyalty through centuries, they have been given the important task of assembling the throne at the auspicious time. They have also served food to the royal guests and assisted the Wodeyars during royal burials too.

These volunteers, about 20 of them, commenced the fixing the throne at the auspicious time in the presence of Pramoda Devi, other members of the royal family and  palace authorities. Once the golden lion is fixed on the throne at an auspicious time, the Yuvaraja takes the ceremonial oil bath of Yenne Shastra as Kannadigas call it.

The assembling of the throne includes fixing the main seat known as Kurmasana, the umbrella over it and the series of steps leading to the seat. This task was completed as priests performed special rituals.

The rituals included Navagraha and ganapati homas by more than 12 palace priests. Soon after, a curtain was drawn to mask the throne till the Yuvaraja ascended the throne.

The throne is used for conducting the khasa durbar during the Navaratri period.

The throne will be on display for the public from October 5 to October 13 after which it will be dismantled and returned to the strongroom.

The throne itself is a subject of several myths and legends. Even its origin is shrouded in mystery. While many historians believe that it was a gift by the Mughals-some say Aurangzeb in 1700- to the reigning Wodeyar, Chikadevaraja, others say it was gifted to Raja Wodeyar in 1610 by either Srirangaraya, the Viceroy of Srirangapatna or Venkata, the Vijayanagar Emperor.

Even Vikram Sampath, the author of  an excellent book on Mysore, called Royal Splendors of Mysore, acknowledges the mystery of its origin.

Popular legend ascribes the throne to the Pandavas and later to the legendary Vikramaditya and Bhoja Raja. The throne was subsequently buried in Penugonda, now in Andhra Pradesh. The then Rajguru of  Vijayanagar, Vidvaranya, helped Harihara, the founder of the Vijayanagar along with his brother Bukkaraya, to retrieve it.

Kampiliraya of Kampli got the throne from Hastinapur and he buried it in Penugonda when Muhammad Bin Tughlaq invaded the Deccan in 1327. Kampiliraya died fighting the Tughlaq. His Kingdom then included Andhra Pradesh, Chitradurga, Shimoga, Raichur, Bellary, Hubli-Dharwad.

The throne remained hidden underground till 1338.   

The golden throne is a fabulous structure and it features a tortoise seat, a staircase with seven steps, a golden umbrella with creepers, an elephant, a horse and soldiers and is emblazoned with an ivory plaque, precious stones and jewels. The holy trinity of  Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are carved out of gold.

The throne was earlier used during the coronation of Wodeyar kings. The throne was found in a store room when the British stormed Srirangapatna on May 4, 1799. It was subsequently returned to the Wodeyars who have since been its guardians.

The last time people saw an Emperor or Maharaja (Srikantadatta Narasimharaja is a Yuvaraja and not a Maharaja.) holding darbar and sitting on the royal throne or Ratna Simhasana was  Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar in 1969.

The throne, its legend and other details are described in detail in the Sanskrit book, Devathanama Kusumamanjari written in 1859 by Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, the King of Mysore.

By the way, one of the best description of the Mysore Dasara, including the Woedyar Emperor ascending the throne and the Jamboo Savari on Vijayadashami is by Govinda Vaidya in 1648. He was a court poet of Ranadheera Kantirava and he has left us a detailed account of Navaratri and Dasara. The first pictorial representation of Dasara is also during this period.

However, an earlier description of Navaratri and Dasara in Mysore and surrounding areas of south Karnataka is found in the book, Bharatesha Vaibhava, by Ratnakara Varni, the court poet of the Odeyar (not Wodeyar of Mysore) kings of Karkala in 1557 and thereabouts. Much of his description is based on the conduct of the festival in Mysore and south Karnataka.

A much earlier and more elaborate description of the Jamboo Savari in Vijayanagar with Krishna Devaraya leading the procession in all its splendor is by the Portuguese traveller Paes. 

The men who built the palace

It is one of the most visited monuments in India and it rivals the Taj Mahal of Agra in recording the number of footfalls. It was built during the last years of the nineteenth century and it took fourteen years to complete.

Though it overshot the budget, the entire cost of the construction of this magnificent structure was a little more than Rs. 41 lakhs. It overshot the budget by a few lakhs but today, the structure inspires awe and disbelief.

One of the world’s largest palaces, it was built in Indo-Saracenic style and combines the best of Hindu, Islamic, British, Rajasthan styles. If the cupolas remind you of the palaces of Rajasthan, the tall tower on which is crowned by a bulbous structure gives it a distinct Gothic or Church style.

Some of the towers give us a feel of the Chattaris of Rajasthan as does the protruding balconies in the south and north side of the palace. 

The tall and massive columns remind one of  Greek structures and the paintings are typical Mysorean in style and substance. The woodwork adds to the design and enhances the beauty of the palace.       

The Gajalakshmi atop the five-storied main arch is typical Hindu.  The square shaped towers on either side of the palace gives the palace a distinct English or Gothic feel, which is typical of many European castles. The seven arched façade resembles a Hindu structure and the huge arches lend a distinct local touch and it is this that resembles the older wooden palace, that burnt down, closely.

The tinted glasses inside and the huge chandeliars brings to our memory some of the best Venetian and French structures. The carved wooden doors remind us of huge temple doors and the curving staircases blend seamlessly with the interiors.

Each part of the palace has its own story to tell and though the palace is of  rather recent origin, it has a tale of its own. This is the Main palace of Mysore, which is often erroneously known as Amba Vilas Palace.

This palace was built on the foundations of the old wooden palace which burnt down during a wedding ceremony of  Princess Jayalakshmamma in 1897. A new palace-the fourth to come up-was commissioned just a few months after the fire mishap and it was completed by 1912.

Coming back to Amba Vilas, it is one of the many sections of the palace that are open to the public. It was generally used by the Wodeyar Kings for private audience and it is often called as one of the most spectacular rooms.

Though the palace was designed by Sir Henry Irwin, who also designed the Viceregal lodge in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, it was  

B.P. Raghavalu Naidu, Executive Engineer, Palace Division, Mysore State, who was placed in charge of construction.

Irwin had just then retired as Consulting Architect of the Government of Madras and he received the contract as his plans were approved.

Mr. Naidu first studied the designs supplied to him and then he toured Calcutta, Delhi and Agra and incorporated the designs of many buildings located in those cities. .

Incidentally, he is also credited with designing and constructing the new bazaar building and Jaganmohan Palace. He ensured that the  work commenced in October 1897 and the palace was completed in 1912 at a cost of Rs. 41,47, 913.

Maharani Vani Vilas, the Regent, commissioned the new palace and she was undeterred when the old structure burnt down.  

He was asked by the Wodeyar family and Sir Irwin to use locally available construction material to the extent it was feasible. This was also the first palace in India that adopting fire safety norms. It also was the first building of such a size to get lifts. Check out the Durbar Lift.

The palace literally rose from the ashes not once but twice. Tipu is believed to have let the old palace decay after he forcibly shifted the Wodeyar family from Mysore to Srirangapatna. When he died on May 4, 1799 and the British handed back the Kingdom to the Wodeyars, there was no big building in Mysore. The new king- Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar- had to, therefore, be enthroned from a temporary structure constructed in Nazarbad.  

The British too noted the lack of a palace for the new king and the then Duke of Wellington noted that “there was no stately structure or house at all in the city suitable for the enthronement of the young raja”, and therefore the coronation took  place in a shamiana in Nazarbad.

The next reference by the British to the Mysore Palace is by Col. Wellesley who says that the “Raja's family has moved into old Mysore where their ancient palace has been rebuilt in the same form in which it was earlier.”

The only photograph of this wooden palace is by John Birdwood, s a lancer in the Mysore Army, who later went on to become the Commander in chief of the British India Army. He presented this  photograph to the royal family in 1929 when he visited Mysore.

Coming back to the palace, Sir Irwin  built it around an open courtyard with a majestic gate on the east. The actual construction was executed by Mysore engineers and the entire building was supervised by Mysore masons.

Very few know that credit must go to Narayanaswamy, who was working as the civil engineer at the Mysore Palace then, for designing the marvellous durbar hall and also the imposing Jayamarthanda Gate.

Though a large number of masons and other workmen were brought in from across India, native workmen too showed their expertise. They used mostly stone and iron materials and this was done to prevent another fire tragedy.
Most of the stones used during the construction were mainly from quarries in the then Mysore state. The quarries at Turuvekere furnished a unique kind of trap which allowed for the intricate and elaborate carvings.

Initially, masons from Trichy, Madras and other districts from South India were at first able to work only with pointed chisels. They found it difficult to work with masons from Kolhapur, Jaipur and other places in Northern India who preferred to work with sharp-edged tools.

When masons from Agra and other places went back after a quarrel, Mysore masons decided to go ahead with the work and today we can see that they really performed an admirable job that has stood the test of time.

One of the best descriptions of the work going on during the construction of the palace is by a Scottish traveler, William G Burn, in 1905.

Another notable feature of the palace is the 96,000 bulbs that light up the structure in the evenings. The lit up palace is nothing short of a dream. Check it out. 

The story of the elastic sword

The Palace of Mysore, also known as the Amba Vilas, is the second most visited monument in India after the Taj Mahal of Agra.

The Wodeyar kings first built a palace in Mysore in the 14th century but it was demolished and reconstructed several times. The construction of the current palace was commissioned in 1897 and it was completed in 1912 and again expanded around 1940.

Mysore palace has seen more than 2.7 million visitors. The magnificence of the palace awes one and all but there are several rooms which are locked and they are out of bounds for tourists and visitors alike.

One such locked entity within the palace premises is the royal armoury or the Ayudha Sala which is sealed and kept out of bounds.

No tourist visiting the Palace has seen the Ayudha Sala and though an effort was made in 2004 to throw it open to the public, it never came through mainly for security reasons.

The armoury is a virtual treasure trove of weapons and they date back from the 14^th century to the present days. There are close to 1,000 weapons, though the website of the palace says there are 725 offensive and defensive weapons.

Most of the weapons are a century or more old and the first inventory of this priceless collection was made during the reign of  Krishnaraja Wadiyar III.

It was this King who took personal interest in the armoury and he  provided each of the weapon with metallic labels containing a serial number.

One of the most priceless collection is the armoury is an elastic sword which is numbered as 198. This sword can be worn as a belt and it belonged to Kanthirava Narasaraja Wodeyar who lived between 1638-1659. This is one of the oldest weapons in the armoury.

British accounts state that this probably is the sacred sword which Ranadheera Kanteerava called Vijaya Narasimha. This sword is supposed to have saved the life of the King several times.

One story about the sword still stands out today. The annals of history say that the King of Trichinopoly (today it is called Trichy) was smarting from the defeat of his champion wrestlers by Ranadheera Kanteerava.

Ranadheera had entered Trichy incognito and defeated the champion wrestler. The King, who was also jealous of the growing power of Mysore decided to extract revenge.  

The time for the revenge came when Mysore was celebrating the ascension of Ranadheera to the throne. The Trichy King sent twenty five of his best warriors, who were also expert swordsmen,  to Mysore.

The Tamil warriors managed to enter the palace of the King, which then was in Srirangapatna. One night, they secreted themselves in the rooms leading to Ranadheera’s private quarters. The Mysore King, saw the movement of shadows on the walls and immediately sensed danger. Even as he pulled out his elastic sword, the Tamil warriors attacked.

Ranadheera swiveled about and used the sword to good effect. By the time his personal body guards came, he had already killed several of  the warriors. The rest were easily overcome and when they revealed the plot, they were sent back to Trichy. 

When news of the deed spread, the whole Kingdom celebrated and the Wodeyar family and Ranadheera ordained that the sword should be worshipped regularly.

Ranadheera then liberally endowed a daily allowance to perform pooja to the sword.

Another weapon is a knife bearing the inscription “chura de 2” and this belonged to Chikkadevaraja Wadiyar who ruled between 1672 and 1704.

A sword called nimcha and bearing the number 36 was the personal property of Hyder Ali and another heavy sword named Sanva was used by Tipu Sultan. There is a beautiful knife with an inscription labelled Pesh-Kabza and it was used by Krishnaraja Wadiyar III.

Another exhibit is the herige katti, which is a knife that was used by midwives for delivering infants. Some of the other weapons are tabbar, jambya, gaddara, khandava, abbasi, saipu, madu, and alemane.

The round flat discs in the armoury were deadly weapons, They were thrown in the hope of slicing off an enemy's head. Other objects in the armoury are  brass spears to be attached to the tusks of war elephants; and several fearsome daggershears, looking like enormous five-bladed scissors, some blades having saw-like edges. Some of these instruments were dipped in poison before they were used to cut at the enemy.

Very few survived the wounds from these five blades as they ripped open the flesh. The armoury also had six or seven small state guns, probably presented to Krishna Raja Wadiyar III at his enthronement and one of them apparently captured by Col. Wellesley, in 1803, at Bijapur.

The gun presented by Wellesley has an inscription saying Moolke Maidan of Beejapore (Bijapur). Many guns are inscribed with the names of princes and officials ho used or owned them.

The armoury also has two chauris with an inscription stating that they were presents to Krishnaraja Wadiyar III by Lord Dalhousie.

The armoury is believed to have been founded by Chamaraja Wodeyar IV, who is more popularly known as Bola Chamaraja or the Bald Wodeyar, sometime in 1575.

There are several vajra-musti, or tiger claws.

The use of these claws and the Vajra Musti is described in detail by Col. Wilks when he saw a mock fight during a Dassara celebration.

Some of the claws are made of buffalo horn, and, even so, are capable of splitting open an adversary's skull. However, in real fights, iron claws were widely used and one of the most celebrated stories of such claws is of Shivaji and the Bijapur General Afzal Khan.

There are several accounts of Britishers, including Col. Mark Wilks (1758-1831) who saw the tiger claws and other objects hung on a pillar in the armoury (Mark Wilks was the uncle of Mark Cubbon who was the Commissioner of Mysore and after whom the Cubbon Park in Bangalore is named).

Col. Mark Wilks wrote one of the first histories of medieval South India called “Historical Sketches of the South of India”, in which he has examined the rise of the Wodeyars. He has described Mysore, the King and the armoury. The book is the first account by an European about the rise of the Mysore Wodeyars following the fall of  Vijayanagar in 1565.

The royal throne is preserved here in a locked room and it is displayed only during Dassara.

Today, some of the weapons used by the royal family are exhibited in the private collection of Wodeyars.

One of the best books on the subject is “Arms and Armoury of the Mysore Palace” by HT Talwar and the Mysore Gazette apart from records with the ASI and the Wodeyar family.

Next to the armoury is the trophy room, which is a taxidermist's delight. There is the massive trophy of an African two-horned rhinoceros, which one of the Mysore kings reportedly shot on a hunting expedition to Africa.

There are also 14 tigers, all shot within the territory of the Maharajah – in his private hunting grounds and estates, which are now well known today as Bandipur and Nagarhole. There are more than 50 stuffed animals on display.