I came across Princess Kamal Prava Devi at a wedding reception, and was struck by her quiet sophistication. She happens to be the mother of my cousin’s wife. What is most interesting is that Kamal Prava Devi is the oldest living princess in India. I was curious to know her story. This is what I found out.

Kamal Prava Devi was born on January 29, 1915. She is the daughter of HH Maharaja Birendra Kishore Manikya Dev Varma of Tripura and his fourth wife, Maharani Jibaneshwari Devi.

Her father, Birendra Kishore, had six Maharanis and secondary wives. All the Maharanis were from Nepal. Kamal Prava’s mother, in fact, was from the royal family of Nepal, and she was the daughter of Ranendra Bikram Shah. Kamal Prava had three brothers— Karna Kishore, Durjay Kishore and Sukumar Kishore. It was a large family with the children of the other five Maharanis, as well as the children of the ‘secondary’ wives. The palace used to echo with the laughter of eighteen daughters and twelve sons.

The ancestral home was called Ujjaiyanta Palace, which is situated in Agartala. It was once upon a time a sprawling complex, more in the likes of a small township. The palace stood majestic and imposing. The front of the palace was the ‘formal’ unit, with its Durbar Hall, conference rooms, banquet halls, library, guest rooms, office rooms and recreation centres. The Maharaja’s residence was also situated there.

Behind the palace were six other mahals, with separate entrances and individual gardens for the Maharanis and their families. Houses for the ‘secondary’ wives and their children were also provided there. Beautiful temples for the household deities, parks and countyards adorned the rear end of the palace. This was known as the Andar and entry to this area was restricted to outsiders. Communication in this inner court was unique, the language being a ‘special dialect’, popularly known as Andar Bhasa. It was a confluence of different cultures, as princesses from other States married into the family and settled with their entourages. The languages commonly spoken were Tripuri, Manipuri, Nepali, Hindi, Bengali, Assamese, Punjabi and English, besides, of course, the Andar Bhasa.

It is interesting to note that the Ujjaiyanta Palace (the front) was built by Martin Burn and Co, who were also the architects of the Victoria Memorial, Kolkata. The palace was built during the reign of Kamal Prava’s grandfather, Radha Kishore Manikya, in the early twentieth century.

Coming back to Kamal Prava, the oldest living Indian princess, who will soon be ninety-five years old in January, she was an accomplished singer and composer. Her style of singing was so remarkable that even SD Burman, the renowned music composer, who was also her uncle, was enthralled by her voice and versatility. With the passage of time, Kamal Prava has moved on. From music, she has now become a writer and an accomplished painter. She writes on philosophy, art and culture, and also composes poetry in Bengali and Hindi. She imbibed the art of designing houses from her brother- in-law, who was an engineer and worked under Martin Burn and Co. From a very young age, she developed an interest in handicraft. She furthered her interest by proceeding to do research work on her own, thus perfecting her skills in it. Her love for handicrafts never dwindled, and she went on to become the pioneer of the Bamboo Handicrafts of Tripura. During the 1950s, she started the bamboo cottage industries and gave training to master craftsmen. It was later taken over by the Government of Tripura.

Today, Kamal Prava derives strength of mind and satisfaction from her paintings. She enjoys painting so much, that she always has one ready on the easel to be worked on. Her paintings are vibrant, exuding life in all its splendour. As a teenager, she also wrote and directed a musical dance drama called Nivedita, which was a runaway success.

Now that winter has set in into her life, she momentarily lapses back to those glorious days when she was a young girl in the palace. Those were golden days filled with all kinds of activities. Her happiest memories were those associated with Maharashlila and Holi. On the occasion of Rashlila, the princesses, dressed in gorgeous outfits, used to perform dance recitals in the courtyard of the Radha Madhav temple. The performance was open to only a selected audience who could truly appreciate the nuances of Manipuri dance. The princesses were so enamoured of their dancing, that they continued to dance throughout the night, till the stars set and the sun rose in the sky. Another of her golden memories is the celebration of Holi in the royal palace. The day dawned with the promise of fun and revelry. After the sacred rituals were over in the temples, the elders were greeted and the young sought blessings from them. A festive spirit and an exuberant mood were in the air with the arrival of Manipuri dancers and drummers, who arrived every year to add to the festivities. Then, the revelry would continue till noon. In the evening, musical soirees were held in the main Darbar hall, with prizes awarded to those who performed well. Most of the eager participants were from the royal family itself. Famous artistes such as Begum Akhtar, Ustad Bismillah Khan, Allaudin Khan, Viswadeb and others have also been guests at these gatherings.

When Kamal Prava was thirty years old, she got married to Rajkumar Ramendra Kishore Dev Varma, who was the son of Maharaja Brojendra Kishore Dev Varma of Tripura. She has four children, the eldest being Dhriti, who lives in Nagaon, Shriti, who is in Greater Nodia, Delhi, Haymantika, who is in Baroda, and her only son, Jishnu, resides in Tripura. Kamal Prava has been living with her eldest daughter, Dhriti, and son-in-law, Bimal Baruah, since 2003. She prefers to stay with Dhriti as they share the same interests in art and music. She has also known Bimal since he was a school boy studying in St. Edmund’s, Shillong and so, he is like her own son. She is a proud grandmother and a great grandmother as well. She has eight grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Kamal Prava has an immense passion for travelling. She was on the move from the young age of nine. She has seen most of India and the neighbouring countries. Later, she also made an extensive tour of Europe with her children.

Generally, the children of the palace were well disciplined and pursued their studies under tutors and governesses. When the princesses grew up, they were sent for further studies to well-known educational institutions of India like Mayo College in Ajmer, Raj Kumar College, Raipur, St Edmunds in Shillong, and to study under the Jesuits in Dhaka and Darjeeling. In those days, however, the princesses were not allowed to venture out for higher studies. They married early and mostly made alliances with princes. Kamal Prava was fortunate that she had a special ‘mentor’, her uncle, Maharaja Kumar Narendra Kishore, who doted on her and took great interest in her education. He was an erudite scholar and philosopher. As Kamal Prava herself was interested in the pursuit of knowledge, she used to be a regular visitor in his household during her childhood, where scholars and holy men used to gather, and they formed a lasting impression on her.

Kamal Prava lost her father when she was only eight-years-old, and he was only thirty-nine years of age. She has never been able to get over that traumatic experience. She still remembers distinctly the heart-rending wails that reverberated through the palace, followed by an agonising silence. As a child, she was haunted by the sight of women, all dressed in white sitting silently like ghosts. Life in the palace came to a standstill for a while. When her eldest brother, Bir Bikram was crowned the next Maharaja, once again, life took its normal course..

With the advent of the second World War, things began to change in Tripura Palace. Most of the women and children were evacuated to other places of safety as the Japanese army advanced towards the eastern borders. By the time Kamal Prava returned, Ujjaiyanta Palace had totally changed. Maharaja Bir Bikram had died on June 17, 1947. Tripura was about to merge with the Republic of India under the regent Maharani Kancha Prava Devi, who was holding the reins of the kingdom, as her son, Kirit Bikram, was a minor. Thus, a flourishing era passed into history.

Today, Ujjaiyanta Palace stands dismal and has a deserted look. The Durbar Hall has been requisitioned by the Government and has been transformed to Tripura State Assembly. Maharaja Kumar Brojendra Kishore’s Andar is now the Women’s College and Hostel. After the death of the Maharanis, their havelis and gardens could no longer be maintained and were eventually disposed off over the years. Today, the royal Andar has become a hub for outsiders. The Maharaja, however, has retained his apartments, but hardly pays any visit to the palace, but prefers to live in Tripura Castle, Shillong and Tripura House on Ballygunge Circular Road, in Kolkata.

Today, Kamal Prava lives a contented life in the residence of her daughter, Dhriti, and son-in-law, Bimal Baruah, at Amlapatti in Nagaon. She spends her time by reading, writing and painting. Only six of her close family members of her generation are living today, and most of them are octogenarians. She happens to be the oldest at 95 years.

Being a painter herself, she is fascinated by the contemporary artist’s range, vision, technique and new mediums used. She is also well aware of the art market and the exorbitant prices some paintings fetch. Her favourite paintings are three in number, done by her father, who was an accomplished artist. These are: Tapas – which had won a gold medal at an international exhibition, Krishna teaching Radha to play the flute, and Radha on a swing with Krishna as background.

It can be observed that Kamal Prava has a penchant for paintings that depict beauty, peace and harmony; she considers herself to be a contemporary artist, too, as she still continues to paint. Till date, she has not done any solo exhibition, and yet, she is a painter to be reckoned with. She has to her credit about 500 paintings and some of them really need to be preserved. Her daughters, Dhriti and Haymantika, are also talented artists.

We have very few enterprising women like Kamal Prava, who live life to the hilt. She lives a comfortable life now, which is the reward of a well spent youth. We have much to learn from her and her life. Her advice to the young generation is – “Be true to yourself and don’t waste anything – time, talent, and resources”; Wise words, indeed, which are to be followed for a fulfilling life. She views life as a long journey to eternity. Her past seems like a dream and as for the future, she is uncertain. She believes in living in the present.

(I am grateful to Dhriti Baruah for inspiring me to write this article).

Jolly Baruah