Newsletter, January 2024

The Deccan Heritage Foundation partners with Harish & Bina Shah Foundation and the University of Mysore

With cornerstone support from Harish & Bina Shah Foundation and a generous grant from the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, the DHF will begin restoring Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion in Mysuru. See the recent press coverage of this announcement here.

Dating back to 1901, the mansion was built as the residence of Princess Jayalakshmi of Mysore. It was converted into the University of Mysore’s Department of Archaeology and Anthropology in the 1950s and, after funding from the Infosys Foundation, the mansion opened its doors as a Folklore Museum in 2001. With its symmetrical plan, and part-circular arcades of Ionic and Corinthian columns, Jayalakshmi Vilas is one of the outstanding examples of the Classical European style adopted by Mysore architects.

The interior apartments are arranged around two internal courtyards: one is roofed with a stained-glass dome that recalls a similar ceiling in the great palace in the middle of Mysore.

The Museum houses one of the most important ethnographic collections in Karnataka, comprising a few thousand artefacts, as well as a unique assemblage of manuscripts, documents and memorabilia linked with prominent figures of Kannada literature. More information about the building can be found in our Mysuru guidebook, which has recently been launched with events in Mysuru and Bangalore.

Conservation Management Plan 
The DHF’s plan focuses on sustainability of resources for the operation and maintenance of the building and its collections.  A core objective is to support the University of Mysore to develop a sustainable model of heritage management by institutionalising historic building maintenance and management.Read more about the project on the DHF website.
Hear about the conservation from restoration architect, Malavika Murthy.
Get in touch with us for more information and to support the project.