Manabendra Shah was the last Maharaja of Tehri Garhwal before the princely state joined the newly independent India in 1947. He succeeded to the throne when his father Narendra Shah abdicated throne (on health grounds) on 26 May 1946. Manabendra Shah known as 'Bolanda Badri' (living incarnation of Lord Vishnu) was the 60st guardian of the temple of Badrinath in Garhwal. After serving on the Burma Front during the Second World War and retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel from the British Indian Army, Manabendra Shah ruled the 4,800-square mile only Tehri Garhwal State from 1946 until 1949, but was proud of having been one of the first to sign the Instrument of Accession, which he had helped to negotiate, with the Government of India. After the independence of India, he was a long-serving member of the Parliament of India, first as a Indian National Congress MP and later as a Bharatiya Janata Party MP. He represented Tehri Garhwal constituency eight times in the Lok Sabha. Manabendra Shah also served as Indian ambassador to Ireland from 1980 to 1983.