Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wodeyar (1919–1974)

Jaycharmaraja Wodeyar

Jayachamaraja oDeyar (oDeya= master in kannaDa) was the last king who ruled maIsUru state between the years 1940 to 1947. He has composed 94 kritis. A brief life sketch follows:

Maharaja Jayachamaraja Odeyar, the last king of the Princely State of Mysore (I940-50)was a philosopher, musicologist, political thinker and philanthropist. Born on 18- 7-1919. Only son of Yuvaraja Kanteerava Narasimharaja Wadiyar and Yuvarani Kempu Cheluvajammanni. Graduated from Maharaja’s College, Mysore in 1938 bagging five awards and gold medals. Toured Europe for the first time in 1939; visited many associations in London and got acquainted with many artists and scholars.

He ascended the throne of Mysore on 8th September 1940 after the demise of his uncle Maharaja Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar. He signed the instrument of accession with the Indian dominion on the eve of Independence. Mysore Kingdom merged with the Indian Republic on 26-1-1950. He was Raj Pramukh of Mysore State during 1950-56. After the integration of the Mysore State with the neighboring Kannada speaking parts of Madras and Hyderabad States, he became the first Governor of the integrated Mysore State (now Kamataka) from 1956-65 and later became the Governor of the Madras State (now Tamil Nadu) from 1964-67. He died on 23-9-1974.

He was a good horse-rider and a tennis player. He helped Mr. Krishnan to participate at Wimbledon. He was a great lover of music and literature. He had a special interest in Western music also. He helped the Western world discover the music of an unknown Russian composer Nikolai MEDTNER (1880-1951) and financed the complete recordings of his compositions and founded the Medtner Society in 1949.

He had such great musicians adorning his Court like the Mysore Vasudevacharya, Veena Venkata Giriyappa, B.Devendrappa, V. Doreswamy iyengar, T.Chwodiah and many others.

He was a Shrre Vidya Upasaka and composed 94 Carnatic Kruti’s under the name Shree Vidya.

He has written many valuable books: the important ones being:- " The Quest for Peace: an Indian Approach, U. Of Minnesota, Minneapolis 1959; Dattatreya: the Way and the Goal, Allen and Unwin, London 1957; The Gita and Indian Culture, Orient Longmans, Bombay, 1963; Religion and Man, Bombay, Orient Longmans, 1965; Avadhuta: Reason and Reverence, Bangalore, Indian Institute of World Culture, 1958; An Aspect of Indian Aesthetics, U. Of Madras, 1956; “Puranas as the vehicles of India’s philosophy of history”, in a journal called Purana, issue 5, 1963; “Advaita philosophy”, published in Srngeri Souvenir Volume, 1965, pages 62-64; “Sri Suresvaracharya”, Srngeri Souvenir Volume, Srirangam 1970, pages 1-8. Besides he has published many classics from Sanskrit to Kannada under Jayachamaraja Grantha Mala including Rigveda (35 parts).

He was the recipient of D.Lit from Queensland University, Australia, Doctor of Law from Banaras University, and D. Lit from Annamalai University. He was a Licentiate of Guild Hall of Music, London and honorary Fellow of Trinity College of Music, London, in the year 1945. The British government honored him with GCSI in 1945 and GCB in 1946.

He was also the first Chiarman of the Indian Wild Life board and founder president of Vishwa Hindu Parishat (VHP).

The links in this page have been created by the transliterated text of the songs posted by Sri Rajachandra on forumhub.com during 2004.

The source is an authoritative book titled srI jayachamrajendra wodeyar avara koDuge (in kannaDa) by Dr.Sukanya Prabhakar. (It means contributions of Jayachamarajendra wodeyar.) The lyrics are transcribed using baraha software.(www.baraha.com)

This page will get organized in course of time like the Tyagaraja and Purandaradasa pages.

13 kritis

4 kritis

2 kritis

5 kritis

51 kritis