"I never feel that I am a princess nor is there
any kind of blue blooded aura around me. I am just a commoner
leading a very normal life. Yes, there are people who still
respect me for my family background." That's how Meenakshi
Devi put it when we spoke to her. She is the daughter of
the last Mysore Maharaja Sri Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar.
Though a member of the  Wodeyar
royal family, she was always encouraged to interact with
ordinary people in school, on the street and at the palace.
Born during the independence period, she grew up at the Mysore
palace with her sisters Gayathri, Kamakshi, Indrakshi,
Vishalakshi and her brother, the present scion of the
family, Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar. Meenakshi
was taught in a separate school inside the palace where children
of the maharaja's staff were also studying. Later she joined
the Maharani's College where she happily mingled with
girls from all stratas of society.
 The
Mysore Dasara was
an event that the prince and princesses eagerly awaited. Meenakshi
recalls how as the day approached there would be a flurry
of activity in the palace premises- preparing the deities
for pooja, cleaning the palace premises, the decoration of
the dolls for Bombe pooja, erecting the wrestling akaada.
On the day of Mahalaya Amavasya, the auspicious new
moon day, the actual festival began with a puja of the goddess
in the temple atop the Chamundi hills. Inside the palace,
the Maharaja would initiate rituals leading to the last day
of festivities.
"The glory of the yesteryear Dasara cannot be described
in words. The Dasara now and the festival then are incomparable
and it was totally different. Only people who have witnessed
it can understand and feel the difference", says the princess.
The pomp and glory of the bygone days have been caught by
her camera. The princess is a  keen
wildlife photography enthusiast. This interest was
nurtured at a very young age when she was taken on the Maharaja's
hunting parties.
The palace was her home till the 1970's and then she
married and left for her husband's home. Nonetheless, every
year she and her family return to Mysore to take part in the
Dasara celebrations with the other members of the royalty.
To the ordinary people in Mysore, she is still their princess.
She is deeply touched by the regard the people of Old Mysore
have for their former rulers.
 Meenakshi
now lives in Bangalore with her children Varchas and Palashri
after the death of her husband. She is an active member of
the Rotary Club and also on the Philomena Hospital
Committee. Politics is not her forte and, at present,
she is totally involved in her Princess Horse Riding School,
which trains riders in equestrian skills. Sometimes she just
takes up the camera and goes on a shooting spree.
On leaving her house, we noticed the numerous photos and oil
paintings of her predecessors on the walls. The vibrant history
of her bygone childhood remain confined within picture frames.
Click here to
read more about Mysore Dasara
-Aditi
Kumar
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