A well-known admirer of music, Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar is said to have pursued his interests at what is now Bengaluru’s Jayamahal Palace hotel.
Connections to the bygone royals are everywhere in Bengaluru for those looking in the right place, from the Gangas to Kempe Gowda. But today, the most common reminders are those of the Wodeyar dynasty, most often seen in the marks of the twin-headed Gandaberunda sigil. But one heritage hotel can draw its lineage back to not one but three of India’s erstwhile royal families—Jayamahal Palace.
The earliest trace of the history of the building, blending colonial and Indian architecture of the time, is from around 1892, by which time it had already been built for the Jagirdar of Arni. This was a small state dating back to around the time of Shivaji, when the founder of the jagir had been granted the territory by Shivaji’s father Shahaji as a reward. By the early 20th century, however, the palace had passed into the hands of the Wodeyar family.
The hotel probably takes its current name from Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar’s successor. His nephew, Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar, was a well-known admirer of music and is said to have pursued his interests at Jayamahal. A composer in his own right, Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar was the president of the Philharmonia Concert Society in London and a patron to composers as far afield as Europe.
One of these musicians was Nikolai Medtner. This association happened towards the close of Medtner’s life, during a period of relative obscurity. The New York Times noted in October 1948, “In characteristic regal fashion, this Hindu ruler has expressed a desire, backed by a special endowment, that the entire stock of Medtner’s works—sixty works in all—be recorded on gramophone disks, so that posterity may avail itself of the composer’s neglected contribution to musical art. For the past twelve years Nicholas Medtner has been living quietly and modestly… One may well imagine the composer’s complete bewilderment when…he was informed of the Maharaja’s friendly wish.”
After a stint of about a half century with the Wodeyars, the building was by 1950 in the hands of the erstwhile royal family of Gondal, a princely state of Rajput origin located in Gujarat. According to Sanjay Sinhji, a member of the family, “The connection with the family is that Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar was married to my grandfather’s sister (Maharani Pratapa Kumari), who hailed from Vana in Gujarat. The hotel later was sold to Vikram Sinhji, the head of the family and erstwhile king of Gondal. Today, it is owned by his grandson.”
source/content: indianexpress.com (headline edited)