The Inevitable Curse

Malangi and Talakad are two small towns near T Narasipur on the banks of Cauvery where the river takes a bend. Talakad's temples lie buried in the vast expanse of sand and are dug up and exposed every 12 years. On the other hand, at Malangi, the river is at its deepest. Whether these phenomena started only after Alamelamma's curse in AD 1610 is a matter of conjecture.
What can be stated with certainty is the fact that the curse on the royal family seems to have come true.
After Raja Wodeyar’s death in 1617 to Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar in 1704 (there were four rulers in between), Kingdom was ruled by the surviving progenies of Yaduraya, but none could beget legal heirs! Incidentally Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar is credited with the composition Gita Gopala – an opera in Kannada.
The sole exception was Chikka Devaraja's deaf and dumb son Kantheerava Narasaraja Wodeyar II - also known as mookarasu.
He was succeeded by his son Dodda Krishna Raja Wodeyar who Ruled from 1714 to 1732. With him Yaduraya’s direct lineage came to an end.
What followed was a succession of nominal rulers adopted by the surviving queens to continue the tradition. Traditional Army commanders known as Dalvoy’s virtually Ruled the Kingdom and paved the way for the ascendancy of a foot soldier like Hyder Ali by 1762. After the famous Mysore War IV and the resultant death of Tipu Sultan, the legendary Arthur Wellesley (also Known as Iron Duke) conquered Srirangapatna in 1799. There were five Rulers from 1732 to 1796. In this period a definite pattern emerged wherein none of the natural heir to the throne born to a King (adopted or otherwise) could beget children, whereas one who became a King by virtue of adoption or otherwise was blessed with a legal heir. Even Hyder and Tipu continued with the tradition of having a nominal Wodeyar King on the throne and even the Dasara Celebrations continued as usual.
What follows is recent history:
Mummudi personal life is very fascinating. He was a modern day Krishna in which ever way you look. He survived a Kamsa in Tipu. He fought the Kaurava’s in British and took the war to the British Parliament and got the Kingdom restored to his adopted son. He wrote his Gita in SriTattvanidhi and svara choodamani and other epics. He had his Rukmini and Satyabhama’s (Five pattamahishi’s) and he had his share of Radha’s too (Fifteen gandharva vivahas). Surprsisngly he had children from his other wives. He had three sons and many daughters from these minor queens. He had one son- Nanajaraja Bahadur- from a Brahmin lady known as Puttarangamba Devi and even today this lineage survives and is known by the name Bahadur (Nanjaraja Bahadur Choultry is a famous heritage structure in Mysore). But ironically none of the three sons survived him! One of the descendants, a successful American citizen, has recently started B.N. Bahadur Institute of Management under the auspices of Mysore University.
Mummudi adopted Chamaraja Wodeyar X as his legal heir in 1865 and when British refused to accord recognition and restore the Kingdom to him, he took the campaign to the British Parliament where under immense pressure from many Parliamentarians, British Government accepted the adoption and agreed to restore the Kingdom to the adopted son on his coming of age. Thus in 1881 the famous Rendition of power took place and Chamaraja Wodeyar X, ascended the throne. Chamaraja Wodeyar X died in 1894 at Calcutta, leaving behind two minor sons and three daughters. While the elder seven-year-old boy was crowned as Nalvadi (the fourth) Krishnaraja Wodeyar, the Regency was entrusted to his mother, who came to be referred to as Vani Vilas Sannidhana. On turning 18, Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV was invested with full authority personally by the Viceroy, Lord Curzon, in 1902. His brother Kantheerava Narasimharaja Wodeyar was given the title of Yuvaraja. Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV died without children and as his brother had predeceased him, His son, Jaya Chamaraja Wodeyar was crowned in. His only son, Srikanta Datta Narasimha Raja Wodeyar, is now the scion of the Wodeyar family. He has no children.
It is notable that the conditions of the curse, barring the exception noted above, has survived from the year 1610 until today, for almost 400 years spanning 17 Maharajas.
A recent research, which was conducted by the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) in collaboration with the state archaeology department, Karnataka, found a well-developed canal system extending a few kilo metres from Talakad to Cauvery. They analyzed the site through geospatial maps recorded by a satellite using infrared and radar technology. A GPS survey was also done on the site for more accuracy. By analyzing the data and comparing it with historical evidence