“My book, Maverick Maharaja, is not a straight-on biography on the multi-faceted Maharaja of Mysore, Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar. It’s a narrative of his life and times, especially his writings, compositional material and musical innovations,” says author Deepti Navratna. The book is a tribute to the Maharaja in his centenary year (1919-1974).
The book’s launch was postponed due to the pandemic. It will now be e-published and released during Dasara at Mysore by the royal family.
“Through photographs and historical events, the 400-page book showcases thesyncretic ethos of the Mysore Court, inter-cultural encounters in Carnatic music in the past, and the tantra, agama and sakti philosophies that marked art activities in the region,” says Navratna.
The writer, a neurobiologist, vocalist and connoisseur of arts, is the Director of Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts - Regional Centre, Bengaluru (IGNCA-RCB). After a Masters in neuroscience from Harvard University, she pursued her passion for inter-cultural musical exchanges, which took her to the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Through her Carnatic Alchemy Project, she explored new sound configurations. . As the founder of Raaga Laboratory, part of her IGNCA project in Bengaluru, Navratna continues her research on neuroscience in Indian classical music. She speaks here about her research on Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar.
Deepti Navratna
How would you describe the book?
Maverick Maharaja takes an unconventional know-the-man-through-his-muse approach in unravelling his genius. The book contextualises the events in his life to the political, social and cultural changes occurring in Mysore and India at large.
Why did you choose to write on
J.C. Wadiyar?
For the past 15 years, all my creative efforts have led me to the Maharaja. Initially, it was his music that drew me to him. Much later, while studying at the New England Conservatory of Music, I happened to research East-meets-West encounters in Carnatic music and found a vintage recording at the British Museum titled ‘Karnatic band of HH. Maharaja J.C. Wadiyar of Mysore.’ Soon, I was fascinated by the Western influences in his Carnatic compositions and his personality and diverse interests. The final research took about two years .
Was the title chosen to reflect the Maharaja’s diverse interests?
I have been in awe of his persona. Can one be contemporary and classical at the same time? Can a mind, steeped in symbols of Agamas and Advaitha, find beauty in metaphors and music of a remote Russian composer? Can someone find divinity in a Carnatic kriti and a Western symphony, all at once? The Maharaja’s life managed to beautifully negotiate many such paradoxes and impossibles .
Western classical music, Carnatic music, wildlife conservation, philosophy, photography, statesmanship, all fitted into his life like a jigsaw puzzle. That is why I thought his story had to be told.
It’s interesting that your book shares the thoughts of the Maharaja’s daughters too.
It wasn’t easy to construct a biography of such a diverse personality. Fortunately, the Maharaja has left us with a wealth of sources to know him — his musical compositions, books he authored, his interviews, published speeches, personal and official correspondence, lectures and essays he penned. His son-in-law, Rajachandra, provided great support and guidance for the book. I also spoke to the Maharaja’s daughters, Indrakshi Devi and Kamakshi Devi, and some of his grandchildren to know what it feels like carrying forward his legacy. His passion for music took him on a study tour of Africa, Australia and the Scandinavian countries At the Maharaja’s College he studied political science and dreamt of becoming a world-class pianist and train under Rachmaninoff, but Nalwadi’s death put him on the throne instead. He then intensified his study of Sanskrit and Carnatic music. He trained under Veena Venkatgiriyappa and the composer, Mysore Vasudevachar.
In the book, Sangeetha Samaya, S. Krishnamurti (grandson of Mysore Vasudevachar) describes how the Maharaja played tunes and discussed lyrics of kritis with his guru. Krishnamurti would later notate these compositions, which would be approved by the guru and Maharaja.
Musicians performing for the Maharaja
His music knew no boundaries...
Maharaja's love for music knew no boundaries. After the second world war, Walter Legge, a classical music record producer and founder of the Philharmonia Society, approached J.C. Wadiyar to resuscitate the philharmonic spirit, which resulted in a series of historic concerts called the ‘Mysore Concerts’ from 1947 to 1951 at Royal Albert Hall, London. Through commissioned recordings and performances with top-notch composers and innovative programming, the world got to listen to great music, thanks to the Maharaja. Very few are aware that Wadiyar quietly revolutionised European art music. In collaboration with EMI, in addition to the classical repertoire, many beautiful works got new life such as Balakirev’s First Symphony and Roussel’s Fourth Symphony. Pieces considered conducting and performing nightmares, such as the music for string, percussion, and celeste by Bartok, were introduced too.
Please take us through his body of compositions in Carnatic music and those he specially created for the band with harmonic ideas.
What is masterful about his less than 100 compositions is that two-thirds are in rare, extant and new ragas. But the element of innovation runs high in them. For example, his Shivakambodhi is a Western Mixolydian based scale, capable of generating Khambodi by an interesting grahabheda.
In his Hindola Desika kriti, ‘Pahimam Satatam’, the entire kriti is constructed using a Western concept called Plagal cadence, in which the chord of the sub-dominant immediately precedes that of the tonic. In Western music, such a concept is used in hymns and chants to give a meditative feel. Many such compositions were perhaps written for the Royal Carnatic Orchestra in his court, which was a world-class orchestra, playing signature music at the intersection of Carnatic , Western classical and world music.
A great number of ragas were resuscitated in his compositions from being mere scales in musicology texts. Ragas such as Lalitha Panchama, Bhupala Panchama, Shuddha Lalitha and Shuddha Thodi mentioned in ancient texts were given form and life as kritis. In this sense, he brought to life many of the scales hidden in texts. Some 30-odd kritis are eka-raga kritis, which means they are the only kritis available in these ragas. For example, Bhogavasantham, an ancient raga that finds references in very old musicological texts, comes to life through his beautiful composition, ‘Amba Sri Rajarajeshwari’.
