12°18′25″N76°38′59″E / 12.3068366°N 76.649861°E /12.3068366; 76.649861
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| Jaganmohana Palace | |
|---|---|
ಜಗನ್ಮೋಹನ ಅರಮನೆ | |
 Front facade and entrance to the royal auditorium of the palace; the palace itself is situated behind the auditorium | |
 Interactive map of Jaganmohana Palace | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Indo-Saracenic |
| Location | Lakshmi Vilas Rd,Mysore,India |
| Coordinates | 12°18′25″N76°38′59″E / 12.3068366°N 76.649861°E /12.3068366; 76.649861, |
| Groundbreaking | 1856 |
| Construction stopped | 1861 |
| Owner | Pramoda Devi Wadiyar |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 3 |
Sri Jayachamarajendra Art Gallery, commonly known by its former nameJaganmohana Palace, is a former royal mansion, arts museum and auditorium, and formerly an alternative royal residence of the rulingmaharaja of Mysore, located inMysore,India, about 200m (600ft) to the west ofMysore Palace. Began in 1856 and completed in 1861, the palace is one of the oldest modern structures inMysore.
Theroyal family would reside at the palace when renovations and construction works would be underway at Mysore Palace. The last time the palace was inhabited by the royal family was in 1897 when the old Mysore Palace burned down due to a fire accident.[1] The ruling king at this time was MaharajaKrishnaraja Wadiyar IV.
Over theNagar uprising of 1830, MaharajaKrishnaraja Wodeyar III was deposed and theMysore Commission was instituted. At the same time, Mysore Palace was seized from the maharaja by the commission. In these circumstances, the deposed maharaja commissioned the building of a large mansion, with several public and private courtyards, for the use of his family and retainers at a site which was a short distance from the grounds of his old palace. Whereas the old palace looked like a stone citadel from outside but was mainly made of wood inside, the new palace was designed to have a lighter, more modern look and a more comfortable internal layout. It was thus built with brick and mortar, reflecting many architectural embellishments, often made of valuable woods and precious stones.
After the commission was dissolved by the rendition of Mysore in 1881, the kingdom was restored to the next in line to the throne, YuvarajaChamarajendra Wadiyar X. The royal family moved to the old Mysore Palace, but Jaganmohan Palace continued to be used for ceremonial purposes and royal programmes (such assoirées of music, dance and poetry), presided over by the maharaja.
In 1896, during the wedding celebrations of Princess Jayalakshmi Devi, the eldest sister of the ruling maharajaKrishnaraja Wadiyar IV, the old palace caught fire and was very seriously damaged. The decision was taken to demolish that structure completely and build a new palace. The construction of a new palace began in 1897 and lasted until 1912. During this interval, Jaganmohan Palace once again became the primary residence of the maharaja and his family.[1] Both personal and official ceremonies, including the maharaja's coronation in 1902 byGeorge Curzon, theGovernor-General of India, the maharaja's dailydurbar, and major ceremonies connected toMysore Dasara would be held there. The first session ofMysore Representative Council was also held here in July 1907, presided over by the dewanV. P. Madhava Rao.[2] The early convocations of theMysore University were also held in this palace. In 1915, Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV converted the palace into an art gallery.
In 1950, MaharajaJayachamarajendra Wadiyar placed the palace under a trust and opened it for public viewing. In 1955, by which time theKingdom of Mysore had been subsumed into theRepublic of India, the art gallery was enlarged with gifts of many precious articles by the maharaja.
In 1980,Srikantadatta Wadiyar renamed the palaceSri Jayachamarajendra Art Gallery in his father's honour.[3] The palace is overseen by Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, the queen mother.
The palace is built in traditionalHindu style and has three storeys. A mural featured in the palace is the earliest known picture ofMysore Dasara and has been painted using vegetabledyes. Afamily tree of the Wadiyars tracing the lineage of the royal family is also painted on a wall in the palace.[4] Two wooden artefacts displaying theDashavatara, the ten incarnations of LordVishnu, are also present in the palace.
In 1900, an externalfacade with a royal auditorium hall behind was added to the palace. This facade has three entrances, and theentablature has religious motifs and miniature temples crafted on it.[4] The auditorium is used forCarnatic arts such as dance,[5] music,[6] and other cultural programmes, mainly during theDasara.
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The art gallery contains one of the largest collections of artefacts inSouth India.[7] Most of these artefacts are paintings, prominent among which are those byRaja Ravi Varma, some of which demonstrate scenes from theHindu epics such as theRamayana and theMahabharatha. The collection of paintings in the gallery exceed 2000 in number and these belong to different Indian styles of painting like Mysore,Mughal andShantiniketan.[4] Sixteen paintings of Raja Ravi Varma were donated to the gallery by Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar.[4] Another important painting present here is theLady with the lamp painted by the Sawlaram Haldenkar and is placed in a dark room where it is the sole exhibit. This is to give an illusion that the glow of the lamp is illuminating the face of the woman.[4] Some other painters whose works are exhibited here includeNikolai Roerich,Svetoslav Roerich,Rabindranath Tagore, Abanindranath Tagore, and the Ukil brothers (viz., Sharada Ukil, Ranada Ukil, and Barada Ukil).[8] Another collection of paintings by Col. Scot, a British Army office during theAnglo-Mysore wars are said to be the only visual representation of those wars.[4] Paintings made on a grain of rice which can be viewed only through a magnifier are also displayed here.
Other exhibits here include weapons of war, musical instruments, sculptures, brassware, antique coins, and currencies.[7] A unique artefact exhibited here is a French clock which has a mechanism in which a parade of miniature soldiers is displayed every hour, beating drums marking the seconds, and a bugle marking the minute.[9]
In 2003, a new hall was built owing to insufficient room available to exhibit all the paintings.[10] The original paintings ofRaja Ravi Varma, which are over 100 years old, are being restored by the Regional Conservation Laboratory (RCL).Syrendri (which had a hole in the canvas),Victory of Meganath andMalabar Lady were some of Ravi Varma's paintings that were restored.[11] Unscientific stretching of the canvas on which the paintings were drawn was one of the major problems noticed including unprotected exposure to dust, heat, and light. Even the murals on the walls had been damaged because of water seepage and these were also restored by RCL.[citation needed]
