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A testament to the irrepressible spirit of the
people of Mysore and their kings, the Mysore Palace has survived
political upheavals, disaster and destruction, only to rise out
of the ashes more magnificent than ever.
The current Mysore Palace – the fourth to occupy this site – was
designed by the British architect Henry Irwin after its
predecessor was destroyed in a fire in 1897. The imposing
building that stands today was completed in 1912, but it is
believed that a Mysore Palace was established as part of a
wooden fortress, by the royal family of Mysore, the Wodeyars, as
early as the fourteenth century.
In 1638 the palace was struck by lightning and rebuilt by
Kantirava Narasa Raja Wodeyar (1638 - 1659 AD), who extended the
existing structures, adding new pavilions. |
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The glory of the new building was to prove short-lived. The death of
Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar (1673 - 1704 AD) in the eighteenth century
plunged the kingdom into a period of political instability.
During these turbulent times the Mysore Palace slipped into a state of
neglect culminating in its demolition in 1793 by Tipu Sultan, the son of
Hyder Ali, a maverick general in the king’s army who rose to become the
ruler of Mysore.
In 1799, when upon the death of Tipu Sultan the five-year old
Krishnaraja Wodeyar III (1794-1868) AD assumed the throne, the
coronation ceremony took place under a marquee. One of king’s first
tasks, on his accession, was to commission a new palace built in the
Hindu architectural style and completed in 1803.
The hastily constructed palace soon fell into disrepair and in 1897 was
razed to the ground by a fire at the wedding ceremony of princess
Jayalakshmmanni.
The destiny of the Mysore Palace now passed to Queen Regent
Kempananjammanni Vanivilasa Sanndihana, who commissioned well-known
British architect Henry Irwin to build a new palace that would be a
tribute to the legacy of Mysore and the Wodeyars.
Completed in 1912 and at a cost of Rs. 41,47,913 the result was the
Mysore Palace you see standing today. A masterpiece in Indo-Saracenic
architecture, on par with great Mughal residences of the North and the
stately colonial public buildings of the South. |
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