Princely jewels caught in dispute

PUDUKOTTAI: Little did Ramachandra Thondaiman, the ruler of the erstwhile Pudukottai princely state, realise that an act of caution on his part would create ripples in the royal lineage more than a century later.
Thondaiman (1839-1886) had stashed away a cache of antique jewels used by him in lockers of the Madras Bank Limited in 1870, which was later amalgamated with the State Bank of India.The lockers are now with the Cantonment branch of SBI in Tiruchi. What has shaken the descendants of the royal family is a public interest litigation filed by self-professed property genealogist S Thanushkodi of Kodaikanal, who has demanded notification of the jewels.
The matter came up in the Madras High Court on January 13 when Thanushkodi sought a direction to authorities to notify and take possession of the antique jewels. The court directed the government to file its response in three weeks.
"I have no clue about the lockers or the jewels said to be in the bank. Besides, is it logical to question the security of the jewels that are in safe custody of a bank?" fumed Rani Rama Devi, who now lives in a modest farmhouse at Mullur, about 10 km from Pudukottai town. She is the wife of Radhakrishna Thondaiman, the brother of the last ruler of Pudukottai samasthanam, Raja Raja Gopal Thondaiman.
Raja Raja Gopal Thondaiman (1929-1948), a bachelor who died in 1997, had adopted the elder son of Ramadevi, also named Raja Gopal Thondaiman. Junior Raja Gopal Thondaiman's wife Sarubala Thondaiman, former mayor of Tiruchi city, also criticised the petition seeking notification of the jewels. "It is the private property of Raja Raja Gopal Thondaiman. The demand for notification of the jewels which are a family property is unjustified," said Sarubala.
The ninth and the last ruler of the dynasty, Raja Gopal Thondaiman, known as a simple and generous man, readily agreed to amalgamate the princely state with the Indian Union and was the first to do so. "He was just 27 years old then," said Sarubala, who unsuccessfully contested the Tiruchi Lok Sabha seat in 2009.
The biggest architectural contribution during his reign was the New Palace in Pudukottai town. It took nearly 16 years for a team of British architects to build the palace with granite sourced from the region. "I lived there till I was 15 years," recalled junior Raja Gopal Thondaiman. "The unique feature of the palace is the grand doors with carved images of tiger, elephants and peacock. The doors had ivory artefacts affixed on them, most of which are missing now. Italian tiles were used for the floors of the spacious rooms," said Thondaiman, who now lives in Tiruchi. The descendants have vowed to fight back with regard to the PIL. "The Maharaja has given a clear will and the jewels are private property. We will face the case in the court," said Sarubala. Vijayakumar, son of Rama Devi, went a step further and said they will be file a defamation suit against the petitioner.