Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion is a heritage building in

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude o ...

Description

Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion is a building in Mysore city,

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...

. It is located in the green surroundings of Manasagangothri, the campus of the

University of Mysore The University of Mysore is a public state university in Mysore, Karnataka, India. The university was founded during the reign of Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, the Maharaja of Mysore. The university is recognised by the University Grants Commission ...

. It rises on a hillock on the west side of Kukkarahalli Kere(lake). The Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion houses a museum of priceless collections of artifacts. The

government classifies it as a heritage structure. The mansion was built in 1905, during the period of Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, for princess Jayalakshmi Ammani, the eldest daughter of the

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, a ...

Chamaraja Wodeyar, at a cost of Rs. 7 lakhs. The location was intentionally chosen to be on top of a small hillock above Kukkarahalli Kere(lake). It was originally called 'the First Rajkumari Mansion'. The first princess Jayalakshmi, was married to Sirdar M. Kantharaj Urs in 1897, who later became the

Dewan ''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the e ...

of Mysore. Kantharaj Urs had a house in the Fort of the Palace called "Gunamba House" after his mother. The mansion was built to be commensurate with their status of princess and dewan. The mansion was acquired by the

to establish a postgraduate centre in its campus known as Manasagangotri. The building was in a state of neglect for a very long time. The building was restored at a cost of Rs. 1.17 crores with funds from the

Infosys Foundation Infosys Foundation is a non-profit organisation based in Karnataka, India, established in 1996 by Infosys to support the underprivileged sections of society. It supports programs in the areas of education, rural development, healthcare, arts a ...

. Renovation began in 2002, and completed in 2006. It was inaugurated by the governor of Karnataka on 16 January 2006 by switching on this new illumination system.

Architectural features

The renovated mansion has 125 rooms, 300 windows, 287 exquisitely carved doors and it was spread across . There are entrances on each side, different from each other. The entrance on the northern side has an extrusion on the stairs presumably to be used as alighting platform from cars and chariots. The mansion is chiefly built of brick and mortar, timber and iron. Stone was dispensed with considering the amount of delay it would have on construction if it were used. There are separated drainages for rain water and used water.

External links

Jayalakshmi Vilas
{{Mysore topics Kingdom of Mysore Tourist attractions in Mysore Houses completed in 1905 University of Mysore Buildings and structures in Mysore Palaces in Mysore 1905 establishments in India Royal residences in India

Description

Architectural features

See also

External links