Double bonus for Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion of UoM

Mysuru: It is a double bonus for Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion (JVM), a heritage building of the Wadiyar era, on Manasagangotri campus of the century-old University of Mysore (UoM), in Mysuru.

While the JVM is getting Rs 2.49 crore from US government’s Ambassador Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) for its western wing, JVM Folklore Museum, an alumnus, is funding Rs 30 crore for the entire building. Deccan Heritage Foundation (DHF) is executing the restoration and conservation work with both the funds.

Earlier restoration

JVM, which was restored and strengthened at a cost of Rs 1.17 crore by Infosys Foundation in 2001, was in the news for all the wrong reasons over the past few years. The collapse of a portion of the roof in the western part of JVM and damages in other parts had become a cause for concern. Deterioration of the 14,000 artefacts in its museum was also a cause for worry.

JVM was constructed in 1905 by Nalwadi Krishna Raja Wadiyar for his elder sister Princess Jayalakshammanni, with an estate of 800 acres. The UoM purchased the estate, including JVM, in 1959, for a token amount of Rs 10 lakh from K Basavaraje Urs, when K V Puttappa (Kuvempu) was Vice-Chancellor. It was named as Manasagangotri.

Specialities

JVM has 123 rooms and over 360 ornamentally carved wooden windows and doors. The ground floor has a Dancing Hall, with stained glass dome, exquisitely decorated pillars, huge wooden decorations and specially crafted tile floor.

Both donors - US Consul General Christopher W Hodges and Harish Shah of Harish and Bina Shah Foundation – signed tripartite agreement with UoM Vice-Chancellor N K Lokanath and DHF chairperson Latha Reddy.

Second US fund for UoM

Hodges said that AFCP is providing a grant of $300,000 for the restoration and conservation of the JVM Folklore Museum. “It is the second largest fund, provided by AFCP in the last 20 years in India. AFCP has funded 24 projects in India since 2001. The highest amount so far was towards the conservation of the 16th century Batashewala Mughal Tomb complex in New Delhi in 2011. In 2012, Oriental Research Institute (ORI) of the UoM had received US Consulate fund,” he said.

Hodges said that it is vital to know one’s roots, one’s past and history. “This is an initiative of the US Mission in India to help restore the heritage of Mysuru. This will also encourage tourists to visit Mysuru and know about its rich history and heritage. It will open up avenues for research by scholars, inducing those from the US. Such initiatives help in strengthening the relationship between the two nations,” he said.

Alumnus

Shah, an alumnus of Manipal Institute of Technology from 1980 batch, belongs to UoM, because engineering colleges were affiliated to it before the establishment of Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) in 1998. Mangalore University was carved out of the UoM in 1980.

Shah is managing director of Signet Chemical Corporation, a major supplier of raw materials to pharmaceutical companies. Latha reddy, former Ambassador, was also Deputy National Security Adviser of India. She also has a Mysuru link, as she was born in Mysuru, while her father H G V Reddy, an IAS officer, served Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wadiyar.