Gayatri Devi

Gayatri Devi Biography

Gayatri Devi, addressed as Maharani Gayatri Devi, Rajmata of Jaipur was the third Maharani of Jaipur from 1939 to 1970. She was born as Princess Gayatri Devi of Cooch Behar and she was married to His Highness Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II. Post abolition of the princely states she became a successful politician and social worker. But she is most known for her charm and beauty and was a fashion icon when she was young. She was featured in Vogue magazine in 1954 for the list of 'The Ten Most Beautiful Women of the World'. Another Indian who joined the list was actress and former Miss India, Leela Naidu and quite ironically she died one day prior to the death of Maharani Gayatri in July 2009. Gayatri died on 29 July 2009 in Jaipur and she was suffering from paralytic ileus and lung infection.

Gayatri was born in London on My 23, 1919 in a Koch Rajbongshi Hindu family. Her father, Prince Jitendra Narayan of Cooch Behar, West Bengal, was the younger brother of the Yuvraja. Her mother was Maratha Princess Indira Raje of Baroda. She too was an extremely beautiful princess. Following her uncle’s death, her father ascended the throne. Gayatri Devi studied at Glendower Preparatory School in London, Patha Bhavana of Visva-Bharati University, Shantiniketan and in Lausanne, Switzerland. She married Sawai Man Singh II Bahadur on 9 May 1940. Gayatri was an excellent rider, hunter and an able Polo player. She was fond of cars too. Gayatri Devi had one child, Prince Jagat Singh of Jaipur, born on 15 October 1949.

Gayatri Devi started schools in Jaipur for girls of which Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls’ Public School is the prominent one. She also revived and promoted the dying art of blue pottery. Gayatri was active in politics too. She was a candidate for parliament elections in 1962 and won the constituency in the Lok Sabha in the world's largest landslide and entered the Guinness Book of Records. She continued to hold this seat on 1967 and 1971. When all all royal privileges and titles were terminated in 1971, she was accused of violating tax laws, and served 5 months in Tihar Jail. She retired from politics and published her autobiography, A Princess Remembers in 1976.

In 2006 Bollywood director J. P. Dutta decided to bring her life on celluloid with Aishwarya Rai doing the lead role. Surprisingly, still chats are going on about the striking similarity of face cuts between Gayatri Devi and Aiswarya Rai. However, the project has not happened yet. Maharani Gayatri Devi died on 29 July 2009 at the age of 90 at Jaipur.  

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Updated: September 24, 2017