He was a king among composers

ROYAL TALES

One of the distinguishing features of art and culture in India since thousands of years is the patronage extended by the ruling empires of the day. Whether under the Moghuls or the princely states, royalty and the arts have always been closely intertwined. In the South, the Vijayanagar empire was home to many artists, poets, artisans, saints and composers, with the ruler Krishnadevaraya himself being an accomplished poet. The Wodeyar dynasty of Mysore, beginning with Yaduraya in 1399, was no different, with many illustrious kings not only patronising the arts, but also distinguishing themselves as exponents of music, literature etc.

The last in the line of the Wodeyar kings, Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar, was no exception to this tradition. Born on July 18, 1919 to Yuvaraja Kanteerava Narasimharaja Wodeyar and Yuvarani Kempucheluvajjamanni, he perhaps had art and culture coursing through his veins while still in his mother’s womb.

His father’s elder brother, ruling monarch Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar was known as a ‘Rajarishi’ whose court was adorned by many local and visiting musicians of both the South and North, besides poets, artists and Sanskrit scholars. The king himself was adept in playing various instruments and had a thorough knowledge of Indian and Western classical music.

The Yuvaraja also had similar tastes, while the Yuvarani was a good pianist. Thus, the infant was born into, in the words of Rani Vijaya Devi, the sister of Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar, “a culturally rich atmosphere in the Mysore Palace, always pulsating with music and other art forms.” His initial lessons in music were on the piano, which exposed him to the magnificence of Western Classical music, in which he was to acquire extraordinary proficiency, completing with top honours the examinations of the Trinity College of Music, London. He built a vast collection of LP records, assiduously collected on his tours abroad.

Graduating from the Maharaja’s College, Mysore with distinction, Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar also studied Sanskrit  and philosophy under stalwarts like Naveenam Venkatesha Shastry, Prof S Ramachandra Rao among others.

His interests in these areas saw him produce works like ‘Gita and Indian Culture,’ ‘Religion and Man,’ among many others, each of which is a remarkable testimony to his profound insight and scholarship.

He also supported the publication and translation of many classics from Sanskrit to Kannada under the Jayachamaraja Grantha Ratna Mala series, including the Rigveda and the Puranas.

Training under another great

It was only after his ascension to the throne of Mysore in 1940 that he turned his attention to Carnatic music. His choice of a teacher fell on the redoubtable Mysore Vasudevacharya, the great musician and composer.

Under the Acharya’s tutelage, in a span of six years, he mastered all the complexities of this genre, practising on the piano the lessons taught by the master, while the Acharya’s grandson, S Krishnamurthy, played the role of an amanuensis here, converting the Carnatic notation to Western Staff notation for easy reference.

The Maharaja’s deep scholarship in Philosophy, Sanskrit and the intrinsically devout Carnatic music form sparked off the creative spirit now, spurring him to compose songs, all in Sanskrit, mainly on the family deity, Goddess Chamundeshwari, besides other deities like Ganapati, Shiva, etc.

Compositions

In all, he composed 94 songs in a span of two years, each of which testifies to his intense devotion and profound scholarship. Since he was a practitioner of the esoteric ‘Sri Vidya’ form of the worship of the Goddess, he used this eponymous signature in most of his compositions. August 17, 1945 saw the first song Sri Mahagana patim Bhajeham in athana raga being composed while the last composition Sri Ranganatha Pahimam in Kalyana Vasantha was composed on December 19, 1947. The other 92 songs were composed in the intervening two years, each in a different raga. Many of the ragas used like Nagadhwani, Suranandini, Hamsa Vinodini, Durvanki are very rare ones. Even today, only a handful of songs like Sri Jalandhara in Gambhiranata, Brahmandavalaye in Mand, Shiva Shiva Bho in Nadanamakriya are heard.

The last named song acquired worldwide fame with the legendary M S Subbulakshmi rendering it at the United Nations.

With an authority and authenticity stemming from a vast knowledge of music and proximity to Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar during the latter’s learning and composing periods, octogenarian S Krishnamurthy has now compiled all these 94 compositions in book form with notation. Undeniably, this is a landmark event in Karnataka’s cultural scenario and in the Carnatic music world. This prince among composers breathed his last in 1974.

S Krishnamurthy had compiled all the compositions of Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar many years ago, as reported in these columns in July 2006.

Five years later, the book is all set for launch on the occasion of the 92nd birth anniversary of Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar at Jaganmohana Palace, Mysore.