Sir M Visvesvaraya

Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, popularly and affectionately known as Sir M.V., was born on September 15, 1860 in a village known as Muddenahalli in Chikballapur Taluk, Kolar District. His father died in Kurnool when Visvesvaraya was just 15 years old. Visvevaraya completed his lower secondary schooling in Chikballapur. After schooling he joined Central College in Bangalore for his graduation. In India Sept 15 is celebrated as Engineer's Day in memory of our beloved Sir MV. He lead a very simple life. He was a strict vegetarian and a teetotaler. He would go to sleep by 10 P.M. and wake up at 6 A.M. His diet included a very light breakfast, two slices of bread or chappatis, vegetables without spices, rasam, curds, Nanjangud bananas for lunch. He was known for his honesty and integrity. Before accepting the position of Dewan of Mysore, he invited all his relatives for dinner. He told them very clearly that he would accept the prestigious office on the condition that none of them would approach him for favours. Such things are unheard of these days. Some of the job positions he held were 1. Assistant Engineer, Bombay Government Service [in 1884] 2. Chief Engineer, Hyderabad State [he served only for 7 months starting April 15, 1909] 3. Chief Engineer in Mysore State [Nov 15, 1909]. He was also Secretary to the Railways. 4. President of Education and Industrial Development committees in Mysore State 5. Dewan of Mysore. [for six years starting 1912] 6. Chairman, Bhadravati Iron Works

7. Member of the Governing Council of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 8. Member of the Governing Council of Tata Iron and Steel Company [TISCO] 9. Member of Back Bay enquiry committee, London 10. Member of a committee constituted in 1917 to make recommendations regarding the future of Indian States. Sir M.V. retired in 1908 and Sri Krishnarajendra Wodeyar, Maharaja of Mysore, was eager to secure the services of Visvesvaraya to serve Mysore. He joined as Chief Engineer in Mysore because he wanted challenging opportunities. Sir M.V. had earned a reputation for his honesty, integrity, ability and intelligence. He had introduced compulsory education in the State which later was embodied as a fundamental right in the Constitution of independent India. To name few of the many things he was responsible for: 1. Architect of the Krishnarajasagara dam - or KRS or Brindavan gardens. One of the biggest dams in India which irrigates a hundred and twenty thousand acres of land. 2. Bhadravati Iron and Steel Works - as its Chairman he rescued it from becoming extinct. 3. Mysore Sandal Oil Factory and the Mysore soap factory 4. Mysore University - Sir M.V.'s question was "If Australia and Canada could have universities of their own for less than a million population, cannot Mysore with a population of not less that 60 lakhs have a University of its own?" 5. State Bank of Mysore (it was first named The Bank of Mysore) 6. Public libraries in Mysore and Bangalore 7. Encouraging girls to attend school. 8. Mysore Chamber of Commerce 9. Kannada Sahitya Parishad or the Kannada Literary Academy 10. Sri Jayachamarajendra Occupational Institute, Bangalore - funded by the ENTIRE money [Rs 2 lacs] he earned from rescuing Bhadravati Iron Works Sir M.V. was never interested in fame or publicity. But they came to him on their own. Every university in India sought him out to confer honoris causa. The univs of Allahabad, Andhra, Bombay, Calcutta, Jadhavpur, Mysore, Patna and Varanasi.

Some of the honours and laurels conferred on Sir M.V.,

1904

Honorary Membership of London Institution of Civil Engineers for an unbroken period of 50 years

1906 "Kaisar-i-Hind" in recognition of his services 1911 C.I.E. (Companion of the Indian Empire) at the Delhi Darbar 1915 K.C.I.E. (Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire) 1921 D.Sc. - Calcutta University 1931 LLD - Bombay University 1937 D.Litt - Benaras Hindu University 1943 Elected as an Honorary Life Member of the Institution of Engineers (India) 1944 1948 1953 1953 D.Sc. - Allahabad University Doctorate - LLD., Mysore University D.Litt - Andhra University Awarded the Honorary Fellowship of the Institute of Town Planners, India Conferred ' BHARATHA RATNA'(The gem of India), the highest dinstiction of the 1955 country 'Durga Prasad Khaitan Memorial Gold Medal' by the Royal Asiatic Society Council of Bengal 1959 Fellowship of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 1958

Sir M.V. belongs to that small band of eminent Indians whose ideas and achievements have been among the truly creative and formative force of modern India. Sir M.V.'s slogan wasIndustrialize or Perish and Mahatama Gandhiji's view was Industrialize and Perish. In 1921 Gandhiji launched his noncooperation movement which Sir M.V. did not agree with. Sir M.V. wrote to Gandhiji urging him to be dressed better in view of the upcoming Round Table Conference. Sir M.V. used to be immaculately dressed. The centenary of the birth of Sir M.V. was celebrated in Lal Bagh in Bangalore. Prime Minister Nehru flew down to Bangalore by a special plane to honour the greatest son of India. Sri Jayachamaraja Wodiyar presided over the function. Sir. M.V. died on April 12, 1962 at the age of 102 years, 6 months and 8 days. As per his wish, he was cremated in his birth place, Muddanahalli.

Bank Balance We read this information in "Indian Express" on March 24, 2005 (by Arindam Bhattacharjee). This article just shows how simple Sir MV was and how diligently he maintained his accounts. Sir MV maintained an account with Bank of Mysore, which is now State Bank of Mysore. Sir MV had Rs 990 on March 27, 1918, which increased to Rs 11,487 on March 3, 1919. His account had thrice attracted interests of Rs 14, Rs 66 and Rs 117 during this period. An entry in the passbook on Nov 18, 1918 reveals he got Rs 13,486 transferred to this current account from a fixed deposit account. Memorial at Muddenahalli Feedback from Dharanendra: I am basically from Kolar. I recently visited to Muddenahalli for the first time.The memorial at Muddenahalli is good but it is not taken care well. It has become a gambler's pub and lover's paradise. Not sure how he would react to the state of affairs in Karnataka or India in general if he was alive today. Government hesitates to release Rs 3 lakh for Karnataka's icon [May 5, 2008 / Deccan Herald].

M. Visvesvaraya Biography Born: September 15, 1860 Died: April 14, 1962 Achievements: Architect of Krishnarajasagar Dam; devised steel doors to stop the wasteful flow of water in dams; honored with Bharat Ratna. Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya was an eminent engineer and statesman and played a key role in building of modern India. Sir M. Visvesvaraya was born on September 15, 1860 in Muddenahalli village in the Kolar district of the erstwhile princely state of Mysore (present day Karnataka). His father Srinivasa Sastry was a Sanskrit scholar and Ayurvedic practitioner. His mother Venkachamma was a religious lady. He lost his father when he was only 15 years old. Visvesvaraya completed his early education in Chikkaballapur and then went to Bangalore for higher education. He cleared his B.A. Examination in 1881. He got some assistance from the Government of Mysore and joined the Science College in Poona to study Engineering. In 1883 he ranked first in the L.C.E. and the F.C.E. Examinations (equivalent to B.E. Examination of today). When Sir M. Visvesvaraya cleared his engineering, Government of Bombay offered him a job and appointed him Assistant Engineer at Nasik. As an engineer, he achieved some marvelous feats. He planned a way of supplying water from the river Sindhu to a town called Sukkur. He devised a new irrigation system called the Block System. He devised steel doors to stop the wasteful flow of water in dams. He was the architect of the Krishnaraja Sagara dam in Mysore. The list is endless. Sir M. Visvesvaraya lead a very simple life. He was a strict vegetarian and a teetotaler. He was known for his honesty and integrity. In 1912, Maharaja of Mysore appointed Visvesvaraya as his Dewan. Before accepting the position of Dewan of Mysore, he invited all his relatives for dinner. He told them very clearly that he would accept the prestigious office on the condition that none of them would approach him for favours. As Dewan of Mysore, he worked tirelessly for educational and industrial development of the state. When he was the Dewan many new industries came up. The Sandal Oil Factory, the Soap Factory, the Metals Factory, the Chrome Tanning Factory , were some of them. Of the many factories he started the most important is the Bhadravati Iron and Steel Works.

Sir M. Visvesvaraya voluntarily retired as Dewan of Mysore in 1918. He worked actively even after his retirement. Sir M. Visvesvaraya was honored with Bharat Ratna in 1955 for his invaluable contribution to the nation. When he reached the age of 100, the Government of India brought out a stamp in his honor. Sir Visvesvaraya passed away on April 14, 1962 at the age of 101. Some of the honours and laurels conferred on Sir M. Visvesvaraya

1904: Honorary Membership of London Institution of Civil Engineers for an unbroken period of 50 years 1906: "Kaisar-i-Hind" in recognition of his services 1911: C.I.E. (Companion of the Indian Empire) at the Delhi Darbar 1915: K.C.I.E. (Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire) 1921: D.Sc. - Calcutta University 1931: LLD - Bombay University 1937: D.Litt - Benaras Hindu University 1943: Elected as an Honorary Life Member of the Institution of Engineers (India) 1944: D.Sc. - Allahabad University 1948: Doctorate - LLD., Mysore University 1953: D.Litt - Andhra University 1953: Awarded the Honorary Fellowship of the Institute of Town Planners, India 1955: Conferred ' BHARATHA RATNA' 1958: 'Durga Prasad Khaitan Memorial Gold Medal' by the Royal Asiatic Society Council of Bengal 1959: Fellowship of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore