This is
one of the oldest buildings in Mysore.
It is over a century and half old. Like the Mysore
Palace, it is also an attractive
mansion built by the Mysore
rulers. During these 150 years, it has been the centre of several landmark
events that have shaped the modern State of Mysore, now named Karnataka. Built
in 1861, it housed the royal family when the old wooden palace was gutted in a
fire in 1897.
The
royal family stayed in this palace till the present main Palace was built. The
installation of Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, which was attended by Lord Curzon - the
Viceroy and Governor-General of India,
was conducted here in 1902. Its ornamental front portion with a hall was added
to the main building at the time of the marriage of Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV and
hence was called the Wedding Pavilion. The pavilion also served as the Durbar
Hall in which Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV held the annual birthday and Dussera
Durbars till the completion of the new Sejje or Durbar Hall in the main Palace
in 1910. The pavilion was the venue of the Representative Assembly after 1923,
a democratic set up of the people's representatives to deliberate and decide
the affairs of the state, the first of its kind in a princely state, an
arrangement made by the Mysore Maharajas.
The hall has also been used for various purposes like convocations of Mysore University,
music festivals, drama and cultural activities exclusively for the Royal
families. Even today it continues to be the venue in the heart of the city for
conferences and cultural programmes, including annual music, dance and other
cultural activities during Dussera. It has two huge wooden doors on either side
of which are displayed the Dashavathara, or the ten incarnations of Vishnu. The
three-storied main structure which was converted into an art gallery during the
reign of Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV has a collection of artefacts belonging to the Mysore rulers.
|
