Celebrating centenary of Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, Mysore Maharaja
Illuminated Mysore Palace
India is celebrating the birth centenary of Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, the 25th Maharaja of the
Kingdom of Mysore. In his comendation , President Ram Nath Kovind described the Maharaja as an exceptional ruler,able
administrator, music
exponent, political thinker and philanthropist.
Prince Wadiyar was only 21 when he lost his father,
Narasimharaja Wadiyar, on 11th March, 1940, and he was
duly anointed as the Yuvaraja. But only five months later, his
uncle, Maharaja Krishna Raja Wadiyar also died, and the
Yuvaraja ascended the throne on 8th September, 1940.
When India won independence, he was the first among the
rulers of India’s princely states to accept the Instrument of
Accession. The Maharaja signed it on 9th August, 1947 and
the Union Government accepted it on 16th August. He should
be thus regarded as the icon of India’s transition to
democracy
After the Accession the Maharaja held the position of
Rajpramukh of the state of Mysore till 1st November 1956.
Thanks to the popular demand, the President of India
appointed him as the Governor of the newly formed state of
Mysore the same day. (Mysore was later renamed as
Karnataka in 1975). He held the position till 4th May, 1964.
The Maharaja gifted the
magnificent Cheluvamba Mansion in Mysore to the
Government to start the Central Food Technological Research
Institute (CFTRI). His similar donations helped the
government set up the National Tuberculosis Institute in
Bangalore and the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing at
Mysore.
(Text and pic courtesy: PIB/Rashtrapati Bhavan).
