The swanky new corporate office of the Maharaja at the Bangalore Palace is fast becoming the talk of the town. It’s aesthetics, simple yet elegant furniture, the colours used for the interiors, paintings from various periods of history that adorn the walls... all speak volumes about the 700-year-old glorious past that the erstwhile Mysore royal family has been known for.
Shifting base from Mysore to Bangalore, Wadiyar’s business interest has grown over the years which includes hotels, fashion, education and airlines, to name a few.
Sitting in the centrally air-conditioned office, the last scion of the Mysore royal family Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar wears a satisfied look after working painstakingly on every minute detail of the office which has now become his dream come true.
His enthusiasm and eagerness reflected in his interaction with this newspaper as he spoke in detail about the project.
Wadiyar first worked on opening up the ceiling to allow natural flow of light as the room is located in the centre of the building with no windows.
The ceiling was then done up and his favourite chandeliers, picked up from Hyderabad, Benaras and Lucknow, were installed.
History of paintings
The paintings that one will see on the walls of this office are from the years 1840s to 1860s. The collection includes the famous Greek painting of Diana with a swan and the Dutch paintings based on the Victorian period.
“All these paintings were earlier at the Bangalore Palace but had been sold off by people who probably had no interest in them.
“I had to buy back all these paintings,” shares Wadiyar.
Exquisite furniture
The one piece of furniture, among many others, that catches the eye is the dining table originally belonging to Dewan Mirza Ismail.
The mother-of-pearl inlay with Chinese lacquer work was restored to its original grandeur by Wadiyar himself.
Well-versed in history, books are yet another aspect that Wadiyar has an interest in.
Keen reader
“I have a bad habit of going through every book. Whenever I travel out of town, I reach the airport early to browse through the book stores and whatever catches my fancy I add to my collection,” he says, adding, “these books will be a good collection for the library when the palace is converted into a hotel.”
The construction of the Bangalore Palace, a small replica of the Windsor Castle, that began in 1862, was completed in the year 1944. “As the family grew, more sections were added,” says Wadiyar.
Glory restored
But it went to seed after the privy purses were abolished and maintenance became a problem. It was in 1994 that Wadiyar decided to take over the responsibility of restoring the beauty of the palace and now, with the museum open to the public, the palace is once again regaining its lost glory.
“I am sure my grandfather Kanteerava Narasimharaja Wadiyar and my grand uncle Sri Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV would be proud of me today for having restored the Bangalore palace to its original glory. Both of them were men of immaculate taste and had a keen eye for detail,” says Wadiyar before signing off.