Jaganmohan Palace

Jaganmohan Palace

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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.