Reminiscences of the Mysore Palace by Urmila Devi

This presentation is a personal walk through the annals of the Wadiyar Dynasty by Urmila Devi, niece of the late Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, the last Maharaja of Mysore. It focuses on Urmila Devi’s personal choice of some of the Mysore rules, personalities that she admired for their unique contribution to Mysore and to the country. Intertwined with the historical narrative are personal reminiscences, anecdotes and a private collection of visuals of the family. Her talk was part of an educational seminar called Royal Legacy- Vijayanagara to Mysore on the transition from the Vijayanagara Empire to the Wadiyars of Mysore and was organized by a local group of Kannadigas Kannada Vrinda in Houston in association with Museum of Fine Arts, Houston during December, 2006. The seminar was supported by the Foundation for Indian Studies, University of Houston, Asia Society, Texas and other sponsors. The purpose of the seminar was to bring together scholars and others to share their knowledge about these two major South Indian dynasties.