NeeWrimiye Challenge has begun! WTF? It is Neetha’s six months writing challenge. I know it sounds like NaNoWriMo! Hey! What is in a name? Just realised that writing two projects at a time, even though recommended by a few and regarded as emancipatory, I realised that if not self-disciplined could become very exacting. Searching for a suitable setting that walks hand in hand with characterisation and the developing storyline and to render my story exotic, I chose a museum and a palace. A combination of history, mystery, forbidden moves, and politics could be a successful formula if one could pull it off with craft and skill. Employing flashback as a technique to connect the main and sub plots, set in different periods and in different countries, I finalised on the Louvre Museum, Paris and the Mysore or AmbiVilas Palace. Researching about the chosen settings and being exposed to interesting historical facts that might not be known to all, I decided to share the worthwhile information with my readers.
Did you know that Mysore palace was originally made of wood and was not the edifice it is today? The wooden palace built by the royal family, Yaduraya Wodeyar in the fourteenth century was destroyed when lightning struck in 1638 and was rebuilt by Ranadheera Kanthirava Narasaraja Wadiyar. How Wodeyars became part of the royal family is another interesting story. When two brothers from Dwarka were on pilgrimage in Mysore, the local princess Devajammanni was to be forecefully married to a Karagahalli Chieftain, Maranayaka. The brothers, who were warriors, gathered troops, killed the chieftain and rescued the princess. The princess married the eldest of the two brothers, Yaduraya who became the ruler of Wodeyar dynasty. The wooden palace left in ruins by Tipu Sultan during the Islamic rule was rebuilt by Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar III. The Wooden Palace caught fire during the wedding of Princess Jayalakshmi and was reduced to ashes. With the help of British architect Henry Irving, the Queen Regent constructed the Mysore Palace as we know today between 1897 and 1912.
What you know as the greatest museum in the world, Musee de Louvre, used to be a fortress built by King Philip II in the 12th Century which served as walls that protected Paris from outside forces? Even though the fortress’ transformation began in 13th century by Charles, it was in 1546 that King Francois I built the Louvre palace on the site. The Louvre Museum is the house for the world-renowned Mona Lisa painting today because King Francois I was the one who brought Leonardo Da Vinci to France. During the French revolution, the then king Louis XIV moved to Chateau de Versailles and the revolutionists turned the palace with the king’s valuable art collection to a public museum.
A Writer's Exposé 