It was an opportunity to explore the city heritage with its scores of monuments and buildings that saw the convergence of a large number of cyclists at the Town Hall here on Thursday.
The heritage cycling was conducted by the Department of Archaeology Museums and Heritage as part of Mysuru Dasara and the district in charge minister H.C. Mahadevappa inaugurated it.
The Minister said the presence of a large number of youth including girls and women was satisfying while adding that conservation could stem from an understanding of the city’s heritage. He said Mysuru was replete with buildings with different architectural styles and at the last count as many as 131 structures were notified as heritage buildings.
The Minister said understanding and better appreciation of heritage will result in better conservation and drew attention to scores of mud houses in villages that were built generations ago but were still strong. Even Mysuru has many such examples and the exercise to explore heritage on cycle was a notable move by the Archaeology Department, he added.
The Mayor Shivakumar said among many sobriquets of Mysuru such as pensioners paradise, cultural city, city of palaces and clean city, it was also a heritage city. He also sought funds from the government for upkeep and repair of many of the heritage buildings to extend their lifespan. The Mayor pointed out that the Mysuru City Corporation had already taken up the repair of the silver jubilee clock tower and more need to be done including the Devaraja Market, Lansdowne Building, Maharani’s College, old DC office, etc.
The heritage cycling commenced from Town Hall and covered silver jubilee clock tower, Freemason’s Club, Chamaraja circle, palace, K.R. Circle, Lansdowne building, Jaganmohan Palace, Commercial Tax Office, old DC office, Crawford Hall, Metropole Hotel, Railway Station, K.R. ospital, Chamarajendra Technical Institute, Cauvery Emporium, Gandhi Square and ended at Town Hall.
Prof. N.S. Rangaraju of INTACH Mysuru and retired head of Department of History and Archaeology, University of Mysore, Dr. Shalvapillai Iyengar, chairman, Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, KSOU, Commissioner of Department of Archaeology Museums and Heritage A. Devaraj, Deputy Director C.N. Manjula, and others were present.
