The historic city of Mysuru, widely celebrated as the cultural capital of Karnataka, owes much of its distinct visual identity to the architectural vision of the Wadiyar dynasty. Among the crown jewels of its civic architecture are the Devaraja Market and the Lansdowne Building. For over a decade, these landmarks languished in a state of dangerous neglect, trapped in a bureaucratic stalemate over whether they should be demolished or restored. A landmark ruling by the Supreme Court has decisively broken this impasse, prioritizing heritage conservation over the state's plan to level and rebuild these historic structures.
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| Devaraja Market and Lansdowne building Mysuru,KA starofmysore.com |
Historical Roots and Architectural Splendor
Both monuments are stellar examples of late 19th-century Indo-Saracenic and European-influenced civic architecture, commissioned by the visionary Wadiyar rulers to modernize the city while retaining its unique cultural aesthetic.
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| Heritage buildings,Mysuru facebook.com |
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| Devaraja Market and Lansdowne building Mysuru,KA starofmysore.com |
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| Devaraja Market, Mysuru, deccanherald.com |
Above images: The 135-year-old Devaraja Market on Sayyaji Rao Road built in the 1890s is a busy place and is a symbol of Mysore Royalty and culture of this city. In June 2019 there was a protest by the tenants of the Devaraja market as the city authorities misinterpreted the HC orders. The court asked the city authorities to explore possibility of preservation of the old structure and its aesthetics. The Heritage Committee already informed the structure of Devaraja market is not weak and strong.So the traders took the cudgels against the mayor for her clarification. The history of the market goes back to the 24th Maharajah, Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar. Built in indo-saracenic architecture the complex has 800 to 900 shops. The municipal corporation has considered the building unsafe.............
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| Mysuru location map google.com |
Devaraja Market (1886): Built during the reign of the Wadiyar dynasty and named after Dodda Devaraja Wadiyar, this sprawling traditional bazaar covers 3.6 acres in the heart of the city. Designed with structural access from four cardinal directions, it was created to organize local commerce into a central, orderly marketplace. It features high ceilings, rows of arched shopfronts, and open courtyards designed to naturally facilitate ventilation and light—a timeless template for public market spaces.
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| 1892 Lansdowne Building, Mysuru, starofmysore.com |
Above image: Newly-built Lansdowne Building ready for inauguration in 1892. Gov. Gen. Lansdowne with wife Lady Lansdowne and his staff visited Mysuru officially in November 1892. He was the second Viceroy to visit Mysore after rendition - restoration of administrative powers to ruler Chamaraja Wadiyar. Earlier in 1886, Lord Dufferin had visited Mysore. Construction of the Lansdowne Bazaars, a two story structure was built in honor of Lansdowne. Styled after European market, the four-block structure stretching 1050 ft forming shopping boulevard has three separate staircases for each elevated block to reach the upper level. Spacious covered frontage with steel railing supported ''Chaija'' gives protection from the sun and rain................ .
Lansdowne Building (1892): Originally known as the Range Bazaar, this elegant, two-story commercial complex was commissioned by Maharaja Chamarajendra Wadiyar X. It was erected to honor the royal visit of Viceroy Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, the 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, to the Princely State of Mysore. Located near the iconic Amba Vilas Palace, its architecture is defined by a continuous arcade of classical European semi-circular arches, projecting deep verandas that shielded traders and shoppers from the harsh tropical sun.
Decades of Neglect and Structural Decay
The road to structural crisis began with decades of systemic maintenance failures by local civic bodies. Instead of scientific preservation, the buildings were subjected to what experts call "insensitive and non-engineered alterations." The construction of ad-hoc mezzanine floors, the closing of original arches, and poor drainage management severely undermined their stability.
The consequences were tragic. In 2012, a portion of the Lansdowne Building collapsed, resulting in four fatalities and forcing the eviction of its commercial tenants. In 2016, an iconic entrance gate of the Devaraja Market collapsed due to structural weakness, alongside several devastating accidental fire incidents. Following these disasters, the Karnataka government argued that the buildings were beyond repair. The state proposed a "facadism" approach: completely razing the original structures and rebuilding replica models with the same heritage facade.
The Supreme Court’s Intervention and the IIT Report
This plan to demolish the landmarks was challenged by heritage advocates, including the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH). The legal stalemate culminated in a definitive ruling by a Supreme Court bench comprising Justices J. B. Pardiwala and Vijay Bishnoi.
Rejecting the state government's push for demolition, the apex court relied heavily on a scientific assessment conducted by an expert committee from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee. The IIT Roorkee report provided critical, evidence-based insights into the true condition of the heritage buildings:
Vertical Stability: Roughly 70% of the vertical load-bearing elements—the massive brick masonry walls and columns—fell under the mild-to-moderate distress category and were deemed entirely repairable.
Horizontal Deterioration: The real danger lay in the horizontal elements, with nearly 70% of roofs and slabs in moderate-to-severe condition, and 80% of Lansdowne's terrace slabs severely compromised.
A Mandate for Scientific Conservation
The Supreme Court ruled that because preservation through repair is structurally feasible, the structures must be saved. The bench ordered the Mysuru City Corporation and the Mysore Urban Development Authority to draft a comprehensive, scientifically sound conservation plan based on the IIT Roorkee and INTACH guidelines.
The court mandated that all modern, ad-hoc additions like mezzanine floors must be stripped away to return the complexes to their original 19th-century architectural forms. Severely damaged roof slabs will be reconstructed using traditional materials compatible with original lime mortar masonry. Crucially, the court warned that strict administrative accountability must be fixed for the future upkeep of these monuments, ensuring they do not fall back into ruin. This judgment is a monumental victory for Indian heritage conservation, ensuring that Mysuru's living history continues to thrive as an interconnected ensemble of its glorious past.
https://starofmysore.com/devaraja-market-tenants-hail-sc-order
K. N. Jayaraman (Author: navrangindia.blogspot.com)
