Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion: Where the traditions of the Deccan come alive

The Hindu

5 days ago

A tepid drizzle falls on the Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion (JVM) in Mysuru, leaving behind silvery dribblets on piles of rubble, scaffolding and blue construction sheets covering vast sections of the lemon-hued edifice, currently under restoration. As soon as one enters the mansion, what strikes one almost immediately is the many years of neglect writ large across it. Yet vestiges of past glory still linger in this 120-year-old, former royal residence with its Roman columns, stained glass dome, ornate balconies, pressed-metal ceiling tiles, elaborately carved wooden pillars and Italian marble flooring, a testament to the eclectic architectural style so typical of Mysuru's Wadiyar dynasty.
Layered cultures
'Historically, Mysuru was one of the most prosperous regions in the Deccan, reflecting the rich, layered cultures of southern India — from early historic times to the modern era. The Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion itself, with its four wings, is an architectural testament to transcultural and transhistorical influences,' says Dr. Helen Philon, co-founder of the Deccan Heritage Foundation India (DHFI), which is currently in the process of restoring this architecturally diverse building.
The restoration, which is being supported by the Harish and Bina Shah Foundation (HBSF) and the U.S. Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), doesn't just stop at restoring the structural integrity and former glory of this building, which has served multiple purposes over its lifetime, including royal family residence, academic hub and finally a folklore museum housing thousands of anthropological and ethnographic artefacts sourced from across Karnataka. It also seeks to transform it into a cultural landmark of sorts that 'will attract not only Mysoreans but also Bangaloreans, Deccanis, visitors from across India, and an international audience eager to attend its musical, dance, and other performance events, exhibitions, and culinary experiences celebrating the harmonious co-existence of its Deccani cultures,' says Dr. Philon.
From house to museum
In 1897, Maharajakumari Jayalakshammanni, the eldest daughter of Chamaraja Wadiyar X and Maharani Vani Vilasa Sannidhana, was married to her mother's brother, Sir Kantharaj Urs. But during the wedding, the old wooden Mysore palace was destroyed in a fire, and so, her mother (who became the regent queen following the untimely death of her husband in 1894) commissioned British architect Henry Irwin to build a new palace that very same year, the oft-visited Amba Vilas Palace.
While the new Mysuru palace was being constructed, another palace, the JVM, was also built as a wedding gift to the princess. Pointing to one of the many wooden pillars inside the north wing of the mansion, Malavika Murthy, Project Coordinator, JVM Project, says, 'Very interestingly, a lot of elements of construction you see here in JVM are patterns developed for the Mysore palace. The column design here is the same design you see on the cast iron columns in the marriage pavilion of the Mysore palace.'
Work on the JVM started around 1900, and the completed building was inaugurated a few years later. 'Some records say 1905, some say 1907,' says Malavika. Archival research points to Sir Kantharaj and his family dividing their time between Mysuru and Bengaluru – he was appointed as the Dewan in 1918. 'So what we understand is that the building was not used a lot during the initial years of its construction,' she explains. 'It was mainly used by their daughter and her family afterwards.'
The family lived here until the death of Princess Leelavathi in 1954, after which, in 1959, the Mansion, along with 300 acres, was sold to the University of Mysore at a 'nominal rate' when 'Kuvempu (K.V. Puttappa) was its vice-chancellor.' Back then, the university was mainly functioning at the Maharaja's College, so once they bought the land and the building, they suddenly had much more space to expand. 'He started the Manasagangotri from this building,' she says. 'This was the genesis of many master's programmes in Mysore University.'
Folklore museum
Right from the beginning, the Departments of Anthropology, Ancient History, and the administration blocks were at the JVM, which is also why it began to house so many interesting objects. Some of these included Mysore Ganjifa cards, leather and string puppets, musical instruments, paintings and even a collection of everyday objects, including several shavige manés, the kitchen tools used to make stringhoppers, explains Akhila Udayashankar, a senior conservation architect who is heading this ongoing conservation project for DHFI.
Other notable objects found here are a collection of documents and artefacts of some of the doyens of Kannada literature, including Kuvempu, Javaregowda, Bendre, Triveni and Lankesh and a giant statue of Mariamman, 'a traditional vernacular deity who is often found at the edge of villages, a symbol of protection,' she says, describing it as 'an object of great impact once you look at it.'
Over time, as the university received more funding and grew, new department blocks began to be constructed outside the building, and people started moving to the new buildings. 'Until 2000, there were a lot of departments still functioning here,' says Malavika. Around this time, a partial restoration of the building, with a grant from the Infosys Foundation, was done, which also led to many of these departments moving out to other new buildings on the campus. 'But the collection was still here, so they decided to make it a complete museum complex.'
During this period, however, the upkeep of the mansion was neglected. 'Things as basic as going to the terrace and cleaning out the leaves, seeing that the drains are functioning properly, and removing a tree growing on the building ensure its longevity,' feels Malavika. And then, tragedy struck when the ceiling of the west wing collapsed some 12-odd years after this restoration.
A better future
But there was a silver lining to the incident – it kick-started the journey towards another attempt to restore it. 'Repeated attention to the west wing roof collapse set the ball rolling,' recalls Akhila, expanding on the series of events which made this grand restoration possible.
According to her, the University of Mysore approached Heritage Matters, a Bengaluru-based heritage conservation firm, which has had a long association with DHFI, for help with restoration. At around the same time, the U.S. consulate was seeking grantees for AFCP, a 'grant programme (that) draws on U.S. resources to support the preservation of historic buildings and monuments, archeological sites, museum collections, ethnographic objects, paintings, manuscripts and indigenous languages and other forms of traditional cultural expression,' as the consulate's website puts it.
So, the U.S. Consulate approached DHFI, which nominated JVM's west wing for structural restoration, and after a long process, a grant of $300,000 was awarded to the University for the project. 'Soon after, Mr. Harish Shah of HBSF visited the JVM and was immediately convinced about the project,' adds Akhila, who thinks of this entire chain of events as 'serendipitous.' The foundation got on board as a donor, giving DHFI a 'very generous' grant of ₹ 30 crore towards the restoration of the JVM in January 2024.
Currently, four separate teams are working on different aspects of the project simultaneously: an architectural restoration team, a collections team, a digital imaging team, and an object conservation team. There is also a local architectural firm contributing to the interiors and design of new interventions. Akhila says that the architectural restoration of the building is occurring in parallel with experts studying the collections carefully, 'looking at each object, giving it a new accession number, recording its details and setting up a system where the object is technically imaged. 'For this, DHFI and HBSF commissioned Nefos, a custom-built platform, to enable comprehensive documentation and tracking of each object.' The conservation team then examines each object, assesses its condition, and identifies the critical areas requiring treatment. 'We are working towards making these objects more accessible in fun ways for people to understand, interact with, and learn from them.'
Cultural centre
The long-term plan for JVM, however, goes far beyond restoring the building and the collection, with the team also hoping to start a cultural and educational centre here that will ensure a degree of financial sustainability. 'DHFI is passionate about coming up with ways to see how it can sustain itself financially in the long run to ensure that we are not handing over a white elephant to the authorities,' says Akhila.
In a country where heritage conservation is not a priority, heritage buildings like this can survive only if they can pay for themselves, she believes, an opinion echoed by Dr. Philon. 'Jayalakshmi Vilas Museum will be a centre for diverse activities that provide the means to maintain its buildings and collections,' she says, offering examples of some planned activities, which include restaurants, a museum shop, and a range of educational programmes. 'The Deccan Heritage Foundation has consistently prioritised sustainability in its restoration projects by cultivating the necessary local skills.'