Mysore:
The beauty of the century-old Mysore Palace is not just in its outer appearance but also in the amount of knowledge it houses about our history, culture, craftsmanship, architecture, etc. A new addition to this knowledge bank is the recently opened chamber which contains scrolls presented to the Wadiyars of Mysore.
Those were the days when people considered the visit of a king to their land as good fortune. And the king had to be honoured on his arrival to make the occasion memorable. This was done by presenting the king with scrolls kept in cases designed aptly for the occasion. The erstwhile Maharaja of Mysore Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar was presented with 96 such scrolls housed in elegantly designed cases during his visit to functions at various places.
These cases are made of pure silver or sandalwood. The gifts include: A silver model of an aircraft presented to the Maharaja by HAL, Bangalore, in 1948 when he was there in connection with a function; a bridge shaped memento when the King laid the foundation stone for Suvarnavathi River bridge; a sandalwood replica of the Gopuram of Ghati Subramanya Swamy Temple which was presented in 1951; a sandalwood racket which had been presented during a badminton tournament held in Mysore; a silver idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari presented on the occasion of the 16th Akhila Bharatha Lingayatara Sammelana at Basavakalyan; a silver memento presented during the inauguration of general hospital at Davangere; a scroll presented when financial aid was given for the construction of Shimoga and Davangere hospital, etc.
Added to this list are priceless silver and sandalwood mementos given to the Wadiyar to mark his visits to functions at various places like CMC Hospital at Vellore, Shimoga, Bangalore, Kolar, Theerthahalli, Udupi, K.R.Pet, Gokak, Hassan, Yelandur, Belgaum, K.R.Nagar, Gudibande and the gift presented during the diamond jubilee celebration of Madras Ayurveda School.
The cases have carvings depicting scenes from epics like Ramayana, Mahabharata and Gita and pictures depicting the coronation of Wadiyars.
The Mysore Palace Board has now come forward to display these hitherto unseen and unknown 96 precious gifts for public view. These items will be displayed at the rooms adjacent to the Darbar hall on the first floor of the Palace, says Palace Board Deputy Director T.S. Subramanya.
With this, the visitors from various places will have a rare opportunity to view the royal gifts given by their ancestors to the king and the history and occasion behind it. For the convenience of visitors, all these items will soon be showcased in a 360 degree angle view on the Palace website (www.mysorepalace.gov.in) which also offers a virtual tour of the Palace, adds Subramanya.
— By Kiran Kumar
source: http://www.StarofMysore.com / Feature Articles / March 03rd, 2012