Her contributions to the citizenry and her roles as maharani, regent, and queen mother to the young prince Yuvaraja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, have been commended.

In 1881, the Rendition of Mysore Act 1881 was passed carried, restoring the government of the kingdom from British India back to the natural prince, who was now 18.

Maharaja Chamarajendra Wadiyar, while on a visit to Calcutta in 1894, developed diphtheria and succumbed to sudden death there, thus abruptly cutting short a promising reign that lasted only 13 years.

History posed a new challenge to her: a severe bubonic plague struck the capital Mysore city, reducing the population in half.

Under such circumstances, she was nominated as queen-regent, a post she held for about eight tough years, from 1895 to 1902, and served the people with great aplomb, dignity, devotion, discipline, and distinction.

Sir T. R. A. Thumboo Chetty, a former Chief Justice of Mysore and a senior member of the Regency Privy Council, was also an acting dewan for Iyer.

Generation of electricity from the river Kaveri, promoting the Indian Institute of Science, construction of the Vani Vilas Sagara dam (also known as the Māri-Kanave Valley aqueduct), construction of the new palace, extension of new localities in Mysore, water supply through pipes (Vani Vilas Waterworks), and laying of foundation stone of Victoria Hospital in Bangalore were enough testimony.