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{{Short description|Kapurthalian royal}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}}
{{distinguish|Sita Devi, Maharani of Baroda}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Princess Sita Devi
| image = Sita Devi of Kapurthala.jpg
| alt = 
| caption = Princess Sita Devi (mid-1930s)
| birth_name = 
| birth_date = 30 September 1915
| birth_place =
| death_date = 2002
| death_place =
| spouse = Prince Karamjit Singh of Kapurthala<br>(m. 1928 - 1967; his death)
| issue = [[Arun Singh (politician, born 1944)|Prince Arun Singh]]<br>[[Martand Singh (textile conservator)|Prince Martand Singh]]
| father = Udai Raj Singh I, Prince of Kashipur
| mother = Princess Devi of Bashahr
| other_names =
| occupation =
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
'''Princess Sita Devi, Princess Karamjit Singh of Kapurthala''' (30 September 1915 − 2002),{{citation needed|date=October 2022}} also known as '''Princess Karam''' and the '''Pearl of India''', was the wife of Prince Karamjit Singh, a younger son of [[Jagatjit Singh|King Jagatjit Singh I]] of [[Kapurthala State|Kapurthala]] in [[Punjab, British India]]. In 1944, she was awarded the [[Kaisar-i-Hind Medal|Empire of India Medal]] for her work in raising funds for [[Indian Army during World War II|Indian soldiers in the Second World War]].

She was widely regarded as one of the most glamorous women of her day.<ref name="Maharajas pages 113, 116">Made for Maharajas: a design diary of princely India / by Amin Jaffer; pages 113, 116-117. New York: Vendome Press, 2006. {{ISBN|0-86565-174-4}} {{ISBN|978-0-86565-174-6}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
[[File:Maharaj Kumar Rani Sita Devi of Kapurthala, edit.jpg|thumb|right|Maharaj Kumar Rani of Kapurthala by Andre Durst (1934)]]
Sita Devi was born in 1915 to the Hindu [[Rajput]] Raja Uday Raj Singh Rathore of [[Kashipur, Uttarakhand|Kashipur]], [[Uttarakhand]].<ref name=Poddar2015.47>{{cite book |last1=Poddar |first1=Abhishek |last2=Gaskell |first2=Nathaniel |last3=Pramod Kumar |first3=K. G |last4=Museum of Art & Photography (Bangalore |first4=India) |title=Maharanis: women of royal India |date=2015 |publisher=Mapin Publishing|location=Ahmedabad |isbn=978-93-85360-06-0 |chapter=Kapurthala|pages=47–48 |oclc=932267190 |language=English}}</ref>

At age 13, she married Prince Karamjit Singh, a younger son of the Sikh [[Jagatjit Singh|Maharaja Jagatjit Singh]] of [[Kapurthala State|Kapurthala]] in [[Punjab, British India]].<ref name=Poddar2015.47/> Her sister-in-law was [[Brinda Devi]], making [[Indira Devi of Kapurthala|Princess Indira Devi]] her niece.<ref name=Poddar2015.47/> As a Hindu devote, she kept her Nepalese cooks with her in order to produce vegetarian food and special Hindu meals for [[vrata|fasts]].<ref name=Ray2012>{{cite book |editor1-last=Ray |editor1-first=Krishnendu |editor2-last=Srinivas |editor2-first=Tulasi |title=Curried Cultures: Globalization, Food, and South Asia |date=2012 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-27012-1 |page=63 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c7MwDwAAQBAJ&dq=sita+devi+kapurthala&pg=PA63 |language=en |chapter=3. Cosmopolitan kitchens: cooking for princely zenanas in late colonial India}}</ref> At her wish, her husband arranged for her to have lessons in Sanskrit, German, Italian, mathematics, history and Hindu rituals.<ref name=Poddar2015.47/> She subsequently became fluent in five languages.<ref name=BT1934>{{cite news |title=Gossip of London: the pale princess|work= Belfast Telegraph |date=15 June 1934|page=810|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002318/19340615/181/0008|via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==Life in Europe==
Devi's first trip to Europe was in 1934.<ref name=BT1934/> In London, an "onlooker" in the ''Daily Mail'' wrote that "Princess Karam is pale. In her own country she is considered the most beautiful of the Princesses; they call her the "Rose of India"."<ref name=BT1934/> That year [[Cathleen Mann]]'s sketch of her was displayed at the [[New English Art Club]] show at the [[Royal Society of British Artists|Suffolk Street Galleries]].<ref name=Sket1934>{{cite news |title=What every woman wants to know |work=The Sketch|date=2 November 1938|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0001860/19381102/023/0025|page=223|via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Subsequently, in Paris, the media widely reported on her looks.<ref name=Poddar2015.47/><ref name=BT1934/> In 1938 her portrait featured in [[Oliver Messel]]'s exhibition.<ref name=Sketch1938>{{cite news |title=Beauty from Oliver Messel's Exhibition |work= The Sketch |date=30 November 1938|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001860/19381130/021/0021|page=415|via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

She was a muse for several photographers, including [[Cecil Beaton]] and [[Man Ray]].<ref name=Poddar2015.47/> ''Vogue'' named her "one of the most beautiful women in the world".<ref name=Poddar2015.132>{{cite book |last1=Poddar |first1=Abhishek |last2=Gaskell |first2=Nathaniel |last3=Pramod Kumar |first3=K. G |last4=Museum of Art & Photography (Bangalore |first4=India) |title=Maharanis: women of royal India |date=2015 |publisher=Mapin Publishing|location=Ahmedabad |isbn=978-93-85360-06-0 |chapter=Kapurthala|pages=132–136 |oclc=932267190 |language=English}}</ref>

At the turn of the 20th century, Indian princesses were increasingly wearing western garments, whether openly or under [[purdah]].<ref name=Jhala2011>{{cite book |last1=Jhala |first1=Angma Dey |title=Royal Patronage, Power and Aesthetics in Princely India |date=2011 |publisher=Routledge |location=Abingdon, Oxon |isbn=978-1-85196-064-4 |page=24 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WGpECgAAQBAJ&dq=sita+devi+kapurthala&pg=PA24 |language=en |chapter=Introduction: cosmopolitan collectors}}</ref> Sita Devi's preferred couturier was [[Mainbocher]], who designed [[Chiffon (fabric)|chiffon]] saris and fur coats for her, and designed the wedding dress for [[Wallis Simpson]]'s nuptials with the [[Duke of Windsor]].<ref name=Jhala2011/><ref name=Scheips2014>{{cite book |last1=Scheips |first1=Charlie |title=Elsie de Wolfe's Paris: Frivolity Before the Storm |date=2014 |publisher=Abrams |isbn=978-1-61312-980-7 |pages=130–132 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pZeJDQAAQBAJ&dq=sita+devi+kapurthala&pg=PT130 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=Jaffer> Jaffer, Amin (10 December 2006) [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20061210/spectrum/main1.htm "Made for maharajas"]. ''The Tribune''. Excerpt from ''Made for Maharajas: A Design Diary of Princely India''</ref>

The couturier [[Elsa Schiaparelli]] was so dazzled by Sita Devi that the gowns of the designer’s 1935 collection were constructed [[sari-inspired dress|like Indian saris]].<ref name=Frock2016>{{cite book |title=Frocking Life: Searching for Elsa Schiaparelli |date=2016 |publisher=Rizzoli Publications |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8478-4548-4 |page=202 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=osGfBgAAQBAJ&dq=Princess+Karam+sari-inspired&pg=PT202 |language=en}}</ref> In early 1939, at [[Lady Mendl]]'s tea in honor of the Hollywood dietitian, [[Gayelord Hauser]], Sita Devi was listed among the twelve most glamorous women in the world.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121103030547/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,771512,00.html?promoid=googlep ''Time'' 13 February 1939]</ref>

At the end of the summer in 1939, Devi was a guest of honour at a party hosted by [[Elsie de Wolfe]].<ref name=Frank2004>{{cite magazine |last1=Franklin|first1=Ruth |title=A Life in Good Taste |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/09/27/a-life-in-good-taste |access-date=7 October 2022 |magazine=The New Yorker |date=20 September 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221010055717/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/09/27/a-life-in-good-taste|archive-date=10 October 2022}}</ref>

==Death and legacy==
Devi died in 2002. Her grandson is a jewellery designer, Hanut Singh.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Journey into the world of Jewelry Designer Hanut Singh |url=https://thomasfuchscreative.com/blogs/news/the-eye-has-to-travel-a-journey-into-the-world-of-jewelry-designer-hanut-singh |website=Thomas Fuchs Creative |access-date=10 October 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

== Honours ==
* [[Kaisar-i-Hind Medal]] [in Silver] (1 January 1944) for her work in raising funds for [[Indian Army during World War II|Indian soldiers in the Second World War]].<ref name=Poddar2015.47/><ref name=C&MG1944>{{cite news |title=Kaisar-i-Hind Silver Medal |work= Civil & Military Gazette|location=Lahore|date=1 January 1944|volume=LXV|issue=6085|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003221/19440101/011/0001|via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category inline|Sita Devi (Maharani of Kapurthala)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sita Devi Of Kapurthala}}
[[Category:1915 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian princesses]]
[[Category:Indian socialites]]
[[Category:Punjab Province (British India)]]
[[Category:People from Kapurthala]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian people]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal]]

Sita Devi of Kapurthala - Revision history

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