The Manikyavelu Mansion is over 90 years old and once belonged to the Wodeyars,

Mysore's royal family. It later came to be owned by Raja Manikyavelu Mudaliar, a

mine owner. It was taken over by the Government of Karnataka in the late sixties
and then offered to the Ministry of Culture in July 1989 in order to set up a modern
art museum in Bangalore.

Read more at: http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/articles/837-national-gallery-ofmodern-art-bangalore?utm_source=copyApart from the iconic status of NGMA in the
city, another crowd pleaser is the very building that houses it. The Manikyavelu
Mansion which houses the NGMA is an old mansion that adds to the beauty and
elegance that represents NGMA, a fitting place for the Gallery. The pristine white
walls of the mansion, the trees as tall as the building and the serene surroundings
with tastefully done interiors compliment the gallery so much so that one wonders if
it was built just for this purpose.

But, it is not. The building that is over 90 years old was once the property of the
royal Mysore family. The mansion later came to be owned by a mine owner Raja
Manikayavalu Mudaliar. It was taken over by the state government in the late sixties
and offered to the Ministry of Culture in 1989 to set up a modern art museum at
Bangalore by NGMA.

Spread over 3.5 acres, the historic heritage mansion was transformed from a
residency into a museum gallery, with a display space of 1551 sq m by architect
Naresh Narasimhan of Venkataramana Associates. The heritage building has been
supplemented by a new Gallery Block, the architecture of which coexists in
harmony with the style and ambience of the traditional mansion.
Manikyavelu Mansion is a landmark building originally belonging to the Yuvaraja of
Mysore Kanteerava Narasimharaja Wadiyar.He sold the property to Manikyavelu
Mudaliar,a leading businessman of 1930s.The Karnataka Housing Board purchased
the building in 1970s from Mudaliars grandchildren.Prior to NGMA,the mansion has
housed the Backward Classes Commission,Devaraj Urs Development Corporation
and other government offices.
Currently,the Manikyavelu Mansion belongs to the Karnataka Housing Board.The
State government has handed it over to the NGMA for 30 years at a cost Rs 1 per
year.However,the Kannada and Culture Department of the State has been paying an
annual rent of nearly Rs 31 lakh to the Housing Board.The department has,over the
last seven years,paid roughly Rs 2.1 crore towards its rent.The building was
renovated at a cost of Rs 7.78 crore. Before Raja Manickavelu, a limestone mine

owner bought it, the mansion was owned by turns by Sir Ismail Sait, a merchant
prince of old Bangalore, late Sixties. For some years, it was leased one of the United
Nations' agencies looking after technology transfer in the Asia-Pacific and the
occupants restored and maintained it in its original splendour for several years. The
work to covert it into a modern arts gallery has been one for some years now. The
CPWD is working on several other projects in the city now. One will be the Rs. 6crore new Regional Passport Office, which will be ready by March 2006. This
centrally air-conditioned building will have spacious reception area so that passport
seekers do not have to line up on the road, as they do now.
The hindu
thu mar 24-2005
February 19, 2009