Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion is a heritage building in

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

Description

Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion is a building of architectural importance in Mysore city,

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. It is located in the verdant surroundings of Manasa Gangothri, the campus of the University of Mysore. It rises on a hillock on the west side of Kukkarahalli Kere (lake). 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 Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...

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 el ...

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 gifted by the Maharaja of Mysore, Jayachamaraja Wodeyar, to the University of Mysore to establish a postgraduate center in its campus. 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 Nonprofit organization, 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 develo ...

. Renovation began in 2002 and were 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.

References

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 20th-century architecture in India

Description

Architectural features

See also

References

External links