An old painting of a Goan Bhairavi was found in London by Udayraj Gadnis, another of Goan origin, a tantric painter and a mystic himself. "It's just an amazing twist of faith!" says Gadnis during a telecon from London. "I saw this beautiful painting by Franz Xavier Winterhalter, oil on canvas, 1873 in the heart of London at an auction. I was deeply struck by the beauty of the face and the elaborate Goan hairstyle with the typical aboli phoole in hair (amboda) and the very exquisite jewellery that you can see even today in Goan Devi temples. I started my in depth research and I was amazed by the story I found."

The portrait Gadnis speaks about is of Princess Victoria Gowramma of Coorg, the daughter of Chikka Veerarajendra, the last Maharaja of Coorg. Gauri Gowramma was born in Goa as a mystic. After being dethroned by British Raj, the exiled father and daughter travelled to England in 1852. They were presented to Queen Victoria. The Queen was taken by Gauri's beauty and devotion to Lord Shiva and she was taken under the Queen's wings immediately.

"Queen Victoria, along with her royal consort Prince Albert, was present at the baptism of this Hindu princess by the Archbishop of Canterbury on 30 June 1852. This Hindu princess was given the name Victoria Gowramma by her godmother — the queen," informs Gadnis. "Please note her original name was not changed!"

Goan sonar (Goldsmith) from Loutolim was invited to create jewellery for this baptism for Gauri. "That's very obvious from the designs and the inscription of his Goan village that can be seen engraved on her gold belt. It is also mentioned in records that Gowramma is wearing Saddo and both are Goan Portuguese words underlining the Goan origin of the girl and her attire!" adds Gadnis. “What intrigues me is the fact that she is wearing a yoni pendant. This means that she was born a mystic and probably was one of the first few Bhairavis, women tantrics of Goa."

It is learnt that she was lovingly called Gaurimaa and her poems on river Mandovi and Lord Mangesh at the age of ten are mystical.

Questions that remain are: Did she give tantra diksha to Prince Albert, the royal consort to the Queen? And how close was she to the family that they have her portrait amongst the kith and kin?

Source: The Times of India, DT. June 4, 2013